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BibliotMqua 

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illustrent  la  mAthode. 


arrata 
to 


pelure. 


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5 

6 

FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


THE  FERNS   OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


COLORED    FIGURES    AND    DESCRIPTIONS, 

Wmi  SYNONYMY  AND  GEOGKA/WCAL  DISTRIBUTION, 
OF  THE 

FERNS 


(INCLUDING    THE  OPIIIOCLOSSACE/E) 
flF  TIIK 


UNITED    STATES    OF    AMERICA 
AND    THE    BRITISH    NORTH    AMERICAN    POSSESSIONS. 


DANIEL    CADY    EATON, 

TROKESSOR   OF    IIOTANV   IS    VAI.R  COl.I.ECE. 


THE  DRAWryCS  BYJ.  H.  EMERTON  AXD  C.  E.  FAXON. 


Vol.  I. 


NSCr 


SALEM : 
S.     E.    CASSINO,    PUBLISHER, 

NATURALISTS'  AGKNCY. 
•879. 


0642iO 


NATIONAL  //i!."i:j/,^S  Cf  C^NpnA 

MUS^  NATION.i!.  V  X'  CAXAOA 

UBRARV  -  Wfc..»OTHtQU£ 


CopvRir.iiT. 

By  S.  E.  CASSISO. 

1S78. 


LNiv.K-nv  PKt«s;  John  Wiu^n  i  Sun. 

CAMBKItX'ii 


TO 

ASA    GRAY.    LL.D.. 

FOn  THRBK  YEAHS  MV  INSTlllCTOIl,  AND  I  OH  MOIIK  THAN  TWKNTY 
MV  TIIUK  AND  OBNEROUS  I'UIKND,  I  DKDICATK  THIS  UOOK  IN  TOKKN 
OF  MV  AI'I-KCTIONATE  REUAltD  AND  MV  ADMlllATION  Km  WHAT  UK 
HAS    DONK    FOH    SCIENCE. 


Daniel  Cadv  Eaton. 


New  Haven,  Afril  17,  1879. 


PREFACE. 


Fern-ixivf.rs  in  North  America  have  often  expressed  a  wish  for 
some  work  devoted  to  the  ilhistration  and  description  of  the  Ferns  of 
the  United  States  and  the  British  Possessions.  To  meet  this  wish  is 
the  design  of  the  present  undertaking. 

The  sixty  years  which  have  elapsed  since  the  publication  of  Nut- 
tail's  Genera  of  North  American  Plants  have  seen  the  number  of  rec- 
ognized North  American  Ferns  more  than  doubled.  This  great  increase 
is  due  to  a  more  general  botanical  interest  in  the  older  parts  of  the 
land  almost  as  much  as  to  discoveries  in  newly  acquired  territory.  Nut- 
tall  gave  the  names  of  only  seventy  Ferns:  in  1848,  Kunze  reviewed  the 
list,  adding  about  ten  species  to  it,  and  rejecting  several  names  as  not 
representing  distinct  species,  or  as  not  belonging  to  any  North  American 
plant.  Al)out  the  same  time  the  acquisition  of  New  Mexico,  Arizona 
and  California,  and  the  various  governmental  explorations  of  these  re- 
gions,  brought  to  our   Flora  about   twenty-eight   more   F"erns,   many  of 

V 


Vl  PRnFACF.. 

which  had  lonjr  ajjti  Ikicii  ilcscribcd  I)y  KaulfiiKH,  antl  others  wen;  made 
known  to  IratanistH  by  Sir  William  Jackson  I  looker  in  the  early  volumes 
of  his  S/irn'rs  lulicnm.  Most  of  these  species  are  enumerated  in  the 
Report  OH  the  United  States  <»//</  A/vxifan  Hoitiufan   Siinvy. 

Increased  activity  anionj;  investijjators  of  the  I'"lora  of  thi;  Northern 
States  has  now  detectetl  within  the  limits  of  the  Republic  all  but  one 
of  the  luiropean  species  of  Ferns  which  IJrummond  lonjf  affo  discovered 
in  the  Rocky  Mountains  of  llritish  America.  Of  I'erns  not  previously 
known  in  North  America,  or  entirely  new  to  sci<,'nce,  New  England 
and  the  Northern  States  have  yielded  three  species,  and  th«;  MiddK: 
.States  (including  Northern  Alal)ama),  four  or  five  more;  while  the  zeal 
of  .several  collectors  in  I'loritla  has  broujjlit  up  the  number  of  Tropical 
Ferns  known  in  that  peninsula  from  four  or  five  in  iSi.S  to  eighteen 
in  1877,  and  to  twenty-three  by  April,  1879.  At  the  same  time,  the  ex- 
plorers of  California  have  made  several  discoveries  of  great  interest ; 
and  the  army  of  botanists  everywhere  h.ave  found  many  new  stations 
for  rare  I'erns,  and  have  greatly  extended  the  known  geographical  range 
of  commoner  species. 

The  Ferns  described  in  the  fifth  edition  of  Gray's  Manual  (1867) 
comprise  fifty-seven  species.  Were  a  sixth  edition  to  be  prepared  now, 
at  least  seven  more  species  —  Adiantum  Capillus- Veneris,  Cluilanthes 
Alabamensis,  Asplenium  parvitium,  A.  viride,  A.  Bradleyi,   Triclionu  -les 


PRICI  ACI-..  VII 

radicans  and  liotry.  >ium  malricarurjoliitm  —  would  each  claim  a  place; 
and  possibly  some  of  \.\\v  reputed  varieties  would  have  to  he  recognized 
as  distinct  species.  Horace  Mann's  Calalof^ue  of  Ihe  I'ascnlar  Crypto- 
gamia  of  S'orlh  America,  publ'shcd  in  186.S,  enumerates  one  hundred 
and  twenty-four  species  <>f  I'erns ;  Kohinson's  Check-list,  of  1876,  names 
one  hundred  and  tinh -seven;  anil  tin;  species  now  attributed,  by  good 
authority,  to  that  ijortiou  of  our  continent  which  is  north  of  the  Mexican 
boundary,  are  1  least  iJiie  luin<'.Ld  ami  forty-three,  and  will  probably 
exceed  that  number  be     "c  die  present  work  is  completed. 

The  plan  adojitcd  for  this  work  is  essentially  that  of  Hooker's 
l''ilices  Hxoticie.  In  order  to  exK-iul  the  usefulness  of  the  book,  the 
definitions  of  species  are  written  in  Isnglish  rather  than  in  l^tin,  and 
they  are  often  made  to  include  some  points  of  generic  importance, 
thereby  making  the  recognition  of  the  species  easier  to  the  student. 
All  the  definitions  are  newly  drawn  up  from  actu.il  specimens  before 
the  eyes  of  the  author,  living  plants  being  used  whenever  obtainable. 
Ample  references  antl  synonymy  are  given,  so  that  those  who  use  t!ic 
work  may  know  where  to  look  for  the  history  of  each  species.  The 
Habitat  is  generally  given  from  specimens  in  my  own  collection,  thou[i;h 
sometimes  taken  from  those  preserved  in  the  great  herbaria  at  Kew 
and  at  Cambridge,  or  from  facts  kindly  communicated  by  helpful  corre- 
spondents.    Under   the    Description,    besides   a   more    particular  account 


Viii  PREF.  CE. 

of  the  Fern  itself,  there  will  often  be  found  some  remarks  as  to  its 
history,  or  its  relation  to  ether  species,  or  perhaps  some  note  as  to  its 
use  in  the  arts  of  life,  or  as  to  the  method  of  its  successful  cultivation. 
Little  is  said  about  the  physiology  of  I'erns.  It  is  a  separate  branch 
of  botanical  study,  and  persons  wishing  to  pursue  it  can  find  excellent 
works  suited  to  their  purpose.' 

The  Ophioglossacea-  are  included  in  this  work,  for,  though  they 
are  not  Filiccs,  as  is  now  well  known,  they  are  closely  related  to  them, 
and  are  certainly  Fn-ns,  in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of  the  term. 

The  drawings  have  generally  l)een  made  either  from  living  plants 
or  from  specimens  which  I  have  selected  for  the  purpose.  As  many  of 
our  Ferns  are  very  much  larger  than  the  plates,  it  has  bee.i  fo-md 
necessary  to  draw  some  <.f  them  on  a  diminished  scale.  The  number 
of  plates  being  fixed  at  little  more  thati  half  that  of  the  species  to  be 

I  Consult  Kobinson-s  •'  l-i-UNS  in  tmk.k  i.omks  am.  oi-ns,"  Thome's  "  Tf.xt- 
nooK  OK  s,  HCCXUA,.  ANP  ..avs,o..o<>.cA,,  nuTANV,"  translated  by  \.  W.  Honnctt,  and 
especially  the  -Tuxr-nonK  uv  r.uT.xsv  ,u,nvnoi.<n.wA,.  an.l  ..nvs,.,..oG,cA..."  by  Julius 
Sacbs,  Uanslated  an,l  annntated  by  A.  W.  Uennett  an.l  W.  T.  T.  Dye,-.  Still  later,  and 
,K,t  yet  „anslate.l.is-MKPMN.sen.l',.AUMACK,T,sc„K  liorAN.K,  ,  uas...  Kkvp.o.;a- 
M..N."  -  n..  tin-.  I.uerssen.  I.ei,./i-.  .S;-,.  This  work  enntains  a  great  -leal  of  the  Anat- 
omy an,l  l>lnsiol.,o  not  only  of  l-e.ns.  but  of  all  the  uv.lers  of  Ciyptoganna.  an.l  is  illns- 
tratea  with   ,S,  wo..,l.cnts  contairiny  very  n.any  fis^nres  of  a  high  onle.  of  cNCcllence. 


PREFACE.  Jx 

figured,  it  has  often  been  necessary  to  represent  several  different  Ferns 
on  a  single  plate,  and  sometimes  to  crowd  the  drawings  more  closely 
than  I  could  wish. 

It  remains  for  me  to  return  thanks  to  Mr.  Cassino,  for  the  care 
he  has  taken  in  the  whole  work,  and  especially  for  his  constant  super- 
vision of  the  printing  and  lithography;  to  the  artists,  Mr.  Emerton  and 
Mr.  Faxon,  for  their  skilful  delineations,  and  for  the  patience  with 
which  they  have  listened  to  my  suggestions;  and  to  Messrs.  Armstrong 
and  Company  for  the  carefulness  with  which  they  have  transferred 
the  original  drawings  to  stone. 

I  am  grateful  to  very  many  kind  correspondents  who  have 
favored  me  with  specimens  of  Ferns,  or  with  valuable  memoranda. 
iicm  all  parts  of  the  United  States  and  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  I 
have  scarcely  ever  had  occasion  to  ask  for  a  specimen  or  for  an  item 
of  information  without  the  favor  sought  being  granted  most  courteously 
and  kindly.  The  names  of  these  correspondents  will  be  found  recorded 
in  connection  with  the  species  they  have  furnished. 

More  than  general  thanks  are  due  to  a  few  persons  who  have  taken 
pains  to  .send  me  unusually  large  and  (me  collections;  and  here  I 
would  speak  of  the  tiisinterestcd  kindness  of  lion.  T.  M.  Pricks,  Dr. 
A.  P.  GAunEK,  Mrs.  Ei.i.wood  Cuopek,  Mrs.  R.  M.  Austin,  Mrs.  Mary 
F.    Pui.siii;r  Ami:s,    and   maii\-  others. 


X  ^  PREFACE. 

Mr.  George  E.  Davenport  has  helped  me  in  many  ways  during 
the  preparation  of  this  work,  and  Hon.  J.  Warren  Merrill  has  fur- 
nished living  plants  of  certain  species  for  the  u  e  of  the  artist. 

With  the  last  Part  of  this  work  it  is  intended  to  print  a  Syste- 
matic Conspectus  of  all  the  Genera  and  Species  of  North  American 
Ferns,  giving  brief  diagnostic  characters  and  references  to  the  page 
and  plate  where  each  species  is  described  and  figured. 


Daniel  Cady  Eaton. 


New  Haven,  April,  1879. 


II   ' 


LIST  OF  THE  FERNS  FIGURED  AND  DESCRIBED 
IN  THIS  VOLUME. 


Platf.  I. 

Plate  II. 

Plate  HI. 

Plate  IV. 

Plate  V. 


Plate      VI. 

Plate    VII. 
Plate  VIII. 


Lygodium  palmatum,  Swartz. 

Cheilanthes  Cooperae,  D.  C.  Eaton. 
Cheilanthes  vestita,  Swartz. 

Asplenium  serratum,  Linnaeus. 

Aspleniuin  ebeneum,  Aiton. 
Asplenium  ebenoides,  R.  R.  Scott. 

Botrychium  Lunaria,  Linnaeus. 
Botrychium  lanceolatum,  Angstrom. 
Botrychium  boreale,  Milde. 

Ciieilanthes  lanuginosa,  Nuttall. 
Cheilanthes  Californica,  Mettenius. 

Aspidium  Noveboracense,  Swartz. 

Camptosorus  rhizophyllus,  Link. 
Asplenium  pinnatifidum,  Nuttall. 


xu 

Plate 

IX 

Plate 

X 

Plate 

XI 

Plate 

Plate 
Plate 

Plate 


XII 

XIII 
XIV. 

XV. 


Plate 

XVI 

Plate 

XVII 

Plate 

XVIII 

Plate 

XIX 

Plate 

XX 

Plate 

XXI 

Plate 

XXII 

list  of  ferns  in  volume  one. 

Notholaena  Fendleri,  Kunze. 
Notholaena  dealbata,  Kunze. 

Aspidium  Nevadense,  D.  C.  Eaton. 

Pellaea  densa,  Hooker. 
Pellaea  pulchella,  F6e. 

Cheilanthes  viscida,  Davenport. 
Cheilanthes  Clevelandii,  D.  C.  Eaton. 

Aspidium  unitum,  van  glabrum,  Mettenius. 

Ancimia  Mexicana,  Klotzsch. 
Aneimia  adiantifolia,  Svvartz. 

Asplcnium  Ruta-muraria,  Linnaeus. 
Asplenium  septentrionale,  Hoffmann. 

Polypodium  aureum,  Linn.neus. 

Botrychium  simplex,  Hitchcock. 
Botrychium   matricariaefolium,  Al.   Braun. 

Adiantum  pcdatum,  Linnaeus. 

Blechnum  serrulatum,  Richard. 

Botrychium  tematum,  Swartz. 

Phegopteris  Dryopteris,  Fde. 

Aspidium  Lonchitis,  Swartz. 
Woodvvardia  angustifolia,  Smith. 


Plate 


Plate 


Plate 
Plate 


Plate 

Plate 
Plate 

Plate 
Plate 

Plate 

Plate 
Plate 


LIST   OF    ferns   in   VOLUME   ONE.  xUi 

XXIII.  Phegopteris  alpestris,  Metcenius. 
Aspidium  fragrans,  Swartz. 

XXIV.  Trichomanes  radicans,  Swartz. 
Trichomanes  Petersii,  Gray. 
SchizcTca  pusilla,  Pursh. 

XXV.     Aspidium  munitum,  Kaulfuss. 

XXVI.     Polypodium  Scouleri,  Hooker  &  Greville. 
Polypodium  incanum,  Swartz. 
Polypodium  falcatum,  Kellogg. 

XXVII.     Pellaea  andromedaefolia,  F^e. 
Pellpea  flexuosa,  Link. 

XXVIII.     Osmunda  regalis,  Linnaeus. 

XXIX.     Osmunda  Claytoniana,  Linnaeus. 
Osmunda  cinnamomca,  Linnaeus. 

XXX.     Aspidium  Thelypteris,  Swartz. 

XXXI.     Polypodium  vulgare,  Linnaeus.  * 

Polypodium  Californicum,  Kaulfuss. 

XXXII.     Scolopendrium  vulgare,  Smith. 
Lomaria  Spirant,  Desvaux. 

XXXIII.  Botrychium  Virginianum,  Swartz. 

XXXIV.  Aspidium  acrostichoides,  Swartz. 


XIV 

LIST 

Plate 

XXXV 

Plate 

XXXVI 

Plate 
Plate 


XXXVII, 
XXXVIII. 


Plate       XXXIX. 


E 

XL 

E 

XLI 

E 

XLII 

Plaje 


Plate 
Plate 


XLIII. 


XLIV. 
XLV. 


OF    FERNS    IN    VOLUME   ONE. 

Pteris  aquilina,  L. 

Asplenium  Trichomanes,  L. 
Asplenium  viride,  Hudson. 
Asplenium  parvulum,  Mart.  &  Gal. 

Adiantum  Capillus-Veneris,  L. 

Adiantum  emarginatum,  Hooker. 
Vittaria  lineata,  Swartz. 

Notholaena  sinuati,  Kaulfuss. 
Notholaena  ferruj^inea,  Desvaux. 
Notholaena  Newberryi,  D.  C.  Eaton. 

Aspidium  Goldianuni,  Hooker. 

Aspidium  Filix-mas,  Swartz. 

Polypodium  pectinatum,  L. 
Polypodium  Phyllitidis,  L. 

Pellaea  Bridgesii,  Hooker. 
Pellaea  Brevveri,  D.  C.  Eaton. 
Notholsena  tenera,  Gillies. 

Dicksonia  pilosiuscula,  Willdenow. 

Cheilanthes  iomentosa,  Link. 
Cheilanthes  Eatoni,  Baker. 


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Plate   I. 

LYGODIUM   PALMATUM,  Svvartz. 

Climbing-Fern. 

Lygodium  PALMATUM :  —  Root-stock  very  slender,  widely 
creeping ;  fronds  two  to  five  feet  high,  smooth ;  the  stalks  twining 
or  climbing,  greenish,  drying  brownish  straw-color;  the  branches 
scattered,  forking  near  the  base,  and  bearing  in  pairs  on  slender 
petioles  cordate-reniform  five-to-seven-lobed  frondlets  or  pinnae, 
one  to  two  or  even  three  inches  broad ;  the  upper  portion  of  the 
fruiting-fronds  paniculately  decompound;  the  pinnules  mostly 
three-lobed,  the  lobes  with  from  six  to  ten  alternate  imbricating 
indusia,  a  single  oval  or  acorn-shaped  sporangium  under  each. 

Lygodium  palmatum,  Swartz,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  154.  —  Scmkumr,  Fil.,  p.  141, 
t.  140.  —  BiGELow,  Florula  Boston,  ed.  iii.,  p.  415.  —  Gray, 
Manual,  ed.  i.,  p.  634,  et  ed.  seq.  omn.  —  Hooker,  Filices 
Exoticae,  t.  24.  —  Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  436. 

Gisopteris  palmata,  Bernhardi,  in  Schraders  Journal,  1801,  i.,  p.  129. 

Hydroglossum  palmaium,Wiixx>Ziiovi,  in  Act.  Acad.  Erford,  1802,  p.  25, 
t.  I,  f.  2  ;  Sp.,  pi.  v.,  p.  84.  —  PuRSH,  Flora  Amer.  Sept.  ii.,  p.  656. 

Cteisium  paniculatum,  Michaux,  Flora  Bor.  Am.,  ii.,  p.  275. 

Ramondia  palmata,  Mirbel,  "  Bull.  Soc,  Phil.,  an.  xi.,  p.  179." 

Hab.  —  In  low,  moist  thickets,  and  damp,  open  woods  ;  from  Massa- 
chusetts to  Virginia,  Eastern  Tennessee,  and  even  Florida ;  not  known  far 
west  of  the  Alleghanies.     The  fruit  ripens  in  September. 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


I 


Descrii'TIOn.  —  The  climbing-fcm,  crceping-fcrn,  Hartford- 
fern,  or  Windsor-fern,  as  it  is  variously  called,  has  a  long  and 
very  slender  root-stock,  scarcely  one  line  in  diameter.  This  root- 
stock  creeps  just  under  the  surface  of  the  ground  to  a  distance 
of  several  inches,  or  nearly  a  foot,  in  one  season.  The  growing 
extremity  of  it  is  scantily  furnished  with  short,  semi-pellucid 
jointed  hairs.  The  root-stock  is  of  a  very  dark  brown  color, 
almost  black :  it  bears  on  the  under  side  short,  straggling  roots ; 
and  from  the  upper  side,  some  distance  from  the  newest  portion, 
arise,  at  a  distance  apart  of  one  or  two  inches,  the  delicate  climb- 
ing fronds.  The  stalk  or  stipe  is  dark  at  the  base,  but  at  a  few 
inches  above  the  ground  becomes  paler ;  in  the  growing  plant  it 
is  greenish,  but  becomes  of  a  dull  brownish  straw-color  when 
dried.  It  is  very  slender,  —  not  more  than  half  a  line  in  thick- 
ness, —  and  yet  has  considerable  strength.  A  transverse  section 
is  roundish  triangular ;  all  the  outer  part  composed  of  dark  brown, 
firm,  thick-walled  wood-cells,  while  in  the  centre  is  seen  a  small 
circular  portion  of  scalariform  ducts  and  parenchyma.  The  fronds 
creep  and  climb  and  twine  themselves  over  other  plants  to  the 
height  of  three  or  four  feet,  or  even  more.  The  sterile  fronds  are 
strictly  bipinnate,  and  so  also  is  the  lower  part  of  the  fertile  fronds. 
Beginning  at  six  or  eight  inches  from  the  ground,  the  twining 
midrib  or  rachis  bears  very  short  branches  one  or  two  inches 
apart.  These  branches  divide,  at  about  one-eighth  of  an  inch 
from  the  midrib,  into  two  slender  petioles  something  less  than 
an  inch  long,  and  each  petiole  supports  at  its  end  a  kidney-shaped, 
deeply-lobed  leaflet  or  pinna.    These  pinnae  are  usually  about  an 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA.  J 

inch  and  a  half  broad,  having  a  deeply-rounded  sinus  at  the  base, 
and  arc  palmately  cleft  into  from  four  to  seven,  rarely  more, 
oblong  or  linear-oblong,  entire  or  obscurcly-crcnulate,  obtuse  lobes. 
The  vcining  resembles  slightly  the  branching  of  our  common 
maiden-hair.  From  the  base  of  the  leaflet  arise  two  veins,  which 
diverge,  and  are  recurved  to  right  and  left.  These  bear,  on  the 
upper  side,  a  few  straightish  primary  branches,  each  forming  the 
mid-vein  of  a  lobe  of  the  leaflet.  From  each  mid-vein  veinlets 
arise  very  obliquely,  forking  usually  twice,  and  gradually  curve 
outward  to  the  edge  of  the  lobes. 

The  texture  of  the  pinnae  is  rather  delicate, — what  maybe 
called  papyraceo-herbaceous, — and  the  color  is  a  fine,  clear  leaf- 
green.  The  surfaces  seem  to  be  smooth,  though  a  few  scattered 
hairs  have  been  detected  along  the  veinlets  on  the  under  surface. 
In  the  fruiting-fronds,  several  of  the  uppermost  pairs  of  leaflets 
are  paniculately  decompound,  being  bipinnately  divided,  the  pin- 
nules usually  three-lobed  or  three-cleft,  but  sometimes  two-to-fivc- 
cleft.  The  lobes  are  about  two  lines  long,  half  a  line  broad,  and 
have  one  central  vein,  along  each  side  of  which,  on  the  under 
surface,  is  a  row  of  four  to  eight  convex  ovate  imbricating  scales, 
or  involucres,  each  one  affixed  tQ  the  upper  side  of  a  very  short 
lateral  branch  of  the  central  vein,  to  which  branch,  under  each 
involucre,  is  attached  a  single  obliquely-ovate  reticulated  capsule 
or  sporangium.  The  sporangia  are  comparatively  large,  and  have 
at  the  smaller  end  a  sort  of  radiated  cap,  which  is  homologous 
with  the  incomplete  vertical  ring  of  the  sporangia  in  such  ferns 
as  Polypodiwn  and  Aspidium.     These  sporangia  open  by  a  Ion- 


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II  ii 


4  FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 

gitudinal  cleft  when  ripe,  and  discharge  the  minute  pellucid 
spores. 

The  climbing-fern  of  our  Eastern  States  is  the  only  species 
of  the  genus  in  the  territory  of  the  United  States ;  and,  indeed, 
no  other  Lygodium  anywhere  attains  so  high  a  latitude.  The 
genus  is  characterized  by  the  separately  involucrate  sporangia,  by 
the  climbing  habit  of  the  fronds,  and  by  the  leaflets,  or  pinnae, 
being  arranged  in  pairs  on  short  common  foot-stalks.  About  six- 
teen other  species  are  known,  mostly  inhabitants  of  trooical  Amer- 
ica, tropical  Asia,  Australia  and  Polynesia,  all  of  them  larger  plants 
than  ours,  the  leaves  more  compound,  and  the  fronds  climbing 
often  to  the  height  of  many  feet.  Lygodium  scandens  (Swartz), 
from  Southern  China,  &c.,  is  frequently  seen  in  cu^'vation  in 
conservatories,  and  two  or  three  other  species  less  commonly. 
The  sub-order  to  which  Lygodium  belongs  is  usually  named 
ScHiZ/EACE^ :  it  includes,  besides  this  genus,  the  genera  Schizcea, 
Aneimia,  Mohria,  and  Trochopteris,  and  is  characterized  by  the 
horizontal  apical  ring,  or  radiated  cap,  of  the  sporangia.  Schizcea 
and  Aneimia,  genera  of  a  considerable  number  of  species,  have 
each  one  or  two  species  within  the  United  States;  while  Mohria, 
of  a  single  species,  is  confined  to  South  Africa  and  the  neighbor- 
ing islands ;  and  Trochopieris,  likewise  monotypic,  is  found  only 
in  tropical  America. 

Lygodium  palmatum  grows  abundantly  in  certain  favored 
localities ;  but  between  them  are  great  regions  where  it  seems  to 
be  utterly  wanting.  Near  Concord  in  Massachusetts  is  its  most 
north-easterly  known  station.     It  is  found  plentifully  near  Sun- 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA.  5 

derland,  Mass. ;  near  Windsor,  Plainville,  and  Manchester,  Conn. ; 
in  several  counties  of  New  Jersey;  in  Monroe  County,  and  per- 
haps other  parts  of  Pennsylvania;  is  named  in  a  catalogue  of 
Ohio  plants ;  and  occurs,  how  profusely  is  not  known,  in  Viiginia, 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  the  Carolinas,  Georgia,  probably  Alabama, 
and  even  in  Florida  {Chapman).  For  many  years  it  was  un- 
known in  New  York;  but  in  1873  it  was  discovered  by  Miss 
Mary  C.  Reynolds  in  the  town  of  Hunter,  Greene  County,  N.Y. 

The  carefully  pressed  fronds  are  much  used  as  an  article  of 
parlor  ornament  or  decoration  in  the  cities  of  Connecticut,  and  the 
custom  is  spreading  to  other  States.  The  plant  is  gathered  in 
August  and  September,  and  is  exposed  for  sale  in  Hartford,  New 
Haven,  and  New  York,  in  great  quantities,  both  in  the  fresh 
condition  and  as  pressed  specimens.  Indeed,  the  gathering  of  if 
became  so  destructive,  that  in  1869  the  legislature  of  Connecticut 
passed  a  special  law  for  its  protection.  This  law  has  since  been 
codified  in  the  revision  of  the  statutes  of  1875;  and  under  title 
XX.,  chap,  iv.,  sect.  22,  it  is  made  an  offence,  punishable  by  a  fine 
not  exceeding  one  hundred  dollars,  or  imprisonment  not  more 
than  twelve  months,  or  both,  to  wilfully  cut,  destroy,  or  take  away 
from  the  land  of  another  person  any  "  cranberries,  creeping-fern, 
crops,  shrub,  fruit,  or  vegetable  production." 

Probably  this  is  the  only  instance  in  scatute  law  where  a 
plant  has  received  special  legal  protection  solely  on  account  of  its 
beauty. 

The  plate  rcprcsc.;ts  a  frond  of  the  climbing-fern,  a  fruiting  seg- 
ment, magnified,  and  a  sporangium,  highly  magnified. 


FKRNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


Plate    II.     Fig.  I. 

CHEILANTHES   COOPERS,  D.  C.  Eaton. 

Mrs.  Cooper's  Lip-Fern. 

Cheilanthes  CooPERiE:  —  Scalks  densely  tufted,  variable 
in  length,  brownish,  fragile,  hairy,  like  the  frond,  with  somewhat 
entangled  or  straightish  nearly  white  articulated  often  gland- 
tipped  and  viscid  hairs ;  frond  three  to  eight  inches  long,  ovate- 
lanceolate,  bipinnate ;  the  rather  distant  pinnas  oblong-ovate ;  pin- 
nules roundish-ovate,  crenate,  and  incised ;  the  ends  of  the  lobules 
reflexed,  and  forming  herbaceous  involucres;  segments  at  first 
slightly  concave,  becoming  flat  at  maturity. 

Cheilanthes  Cooperes,  D.  C.  Eaton,  in  Bulletin  of  the  Torrey  Botanical 
Club,  vi.,  p.  33  (May,  1875). 

Had.  —  California,  in  clefts  of  rocks  and  on  mountain-sides ;  near 
Santa  Barbara,  Mrs.  Ellwood  Cooper  ;  Dovvnieville  Buttcs,  Mr.  J.  G.  Lem- 
MON ;  near  San  Bernardino,  Dr.  C.  C.  Parry  and  Mr.  Lemmon. 

Description. — The  root-stocks  are  short,  entangled,  ascend- 
ing rather  than  creeping,  and  covered,  especially  near  the  growing 
end,  with  narrow,  linear-acuminate,  crisped,  dark-brown  scales. 
The  stalks  are  crowded  together,  erect  or  curved;  half  to  two- 
thirds  of  a  line  thick;  two  to  four  inches  long;  dark  chestnut- 
brown;  shining,  but  hirsute-pubescent,  as  is  the  whole  frond, 
with  pale-brown  or  whitish  jointed  hairs,  which  are  more  or  less 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


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viscid,  and  some  of  them  evidently  tipped  with  a  minute  globular 
gland. 

The  frond  is  as  long  as  the  stalk,  or  even  longer;  is  oblong- 
ovate  or  ovate-lanceolate  in  outline ;  bipinnate,  or,  in  the  larger 
specimens,  approaching  tripinnate.  The  lower  pinnae  are  rather 
distantly  placed,  opposite  or  alternate,  oblong-ovate  in  shape,  six 
to  nine  lines  long;  the  pinnules  crenately  incised;  the  lobules 
with  the  ert,ds  recurved,  and  forming  separate  herbaceous  involu- 
cres. The  upper  pinnae  are  gradually  smaller  and  more  closely 
placed.  As  the  sporangia  ripen,  the  involucres  are  pushed  back, 
so  that  the  lobes  and  segmc;:  ^;  are  at  length  flattened  out.  The 
hairiness  of  the  frond  is  so  abundant  as  to  partially  obscure  the 
divisions  of  the  pinnae.  The  texture  is  herbaceous,  and  the  gen- 
eral color  a  dull  grayish-green. 

This  little  fern  bears  considerable  affinity  to  Cheilanthes 
vestita  (Swartz),  which  is  well  known  from  New  York  to  Illinois 
and  Georgia,  and  has  been  collected  as  far  west  as  Kansas.  C. 
Coopera  has  the  same  general  appearance,  and  similar  herbaceous 
involucres,  but  is  commonly  of  smaller  size,  and  is  very  distinct 
in  the  character  of  the  pubescence,  as  the  hairs  of  the  Eastern 
plant  are  never  viscid  and  glandular.  On  first  receiving  it,  I  sup- 
posed it  might  be  a  Northern  form  of  C.  pilosa,  from  the  Andes  of 
Peru ;  but,  having  now  obtained  a  specimen  of  that  fern  through 
the  kindness  of  Mr.  Baker  of  the  Kew  Gardens,  it  is  evident 
that  the  present  is  distinct  in  its  smaller  size,  narrower  pinnules, 
and  in  some  other  respects.  Both  species  differ  from  C.  vestita 
in  bearing  glanduliferous  hairs. 


FERNS   OF  NORTH   AMERICA.  9 

Mrs.  Sarah  P.  Cooper  and  her  husband,  Ellwood  Cooper, 
Esq.,  of  Santa  Barbara,  are  both  well  known  as  taking  great 
interest  in  the  development  of  California,  especially  in  the  direc- 
tion of  education,  agriculture,  and  natural  history.  Mrs.  Cooper 
has  sent  to  the  Eastern  States  fine  collections  of  ferns,  and  also 
of  the  marine  algae  which  the  shores  of  California  produce  in 
great  abundance  and  in  beautiful  variety. 

Plate  II.,  Fig.  i.— An  entire  plant  of  Cheilantlies  Cooperai,  and  above 
it,  to  tiie  right,  a  portion  of  a  pinna  enlarged,  and  one  of  the  gland-tipped 
hairs  highly  magnified. 


m 


FERNS   OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


II 


SYNOPSIS  OF   THE  SPECIES   OF  CHEILANTHES   KNOWN 
TO  OCCUR   IN   THE    UNITED  STATES. 


Cheilanthes,  Swartz,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  5,  1 26. 

§1.  Adiantopsis.  ^ — Involucres  separate,  one  to  each  fertile  veinlet. 

1.  C.  Californica,  Mettenius  (California). 

§2.  EucHEiLANTHEs.  —  Involucres  more  or  less  confluent,  usually 
extending  over  the  apices  of  several  veinlets,  but  not,  or  very  rarely,  con. 
tinuous  all  round  the  segment. 

*  Segments  of  the  frond  smooth. 

2.  C.  Wrightii,  Hooker  (Texas  to  Arizona). 

3.  C.  microphylla,  Swartz  (New  Mexico). 

■I.  C.  Alabamcnsis,  Kunze  (Carolina  to  Texas). 

•*  Frond  somewhat  hairy,  or  hairy  and  glandtilar,  but  not  tomentose, 

5.  C.  ieucopoda,  Link  (Texas). 

6.  C.  vesiita,  Swartz  (New  York   to   Georgia,   Illinois,  and 

Kansas). 

7.  C.  Coopers,  D.  C.  Eaton  (California). 

§3.  Phvsai'teris  or  Mvriopteris. —  Ultimate  segments  minute,  round- 
ed ;  involucre  usually  continuous  all  round  the  margin.  Fronds,  in  all  our 
species,  twice  to  thrice  pinnate,  with  the  lower  surface  tomentose  or  scaly, 
the  tomentum  or  scales  at  first  white,  often  becoming  tawny  as  the  fronds 
mature. 

*  frond  tomentose  beneath,  but  not  scaly  {^except  along  the  rachises  vt  No.  1 1) 


K 


12 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


t  Upper  surface  nearly  or  quite  naked;  fronds  rarely  more  than  twice 

pinnate, 

8.  C.  gracillima,  D.  C.  Eaton  (California  to  British  Columbia). 

t1  Upper  surface  decidedly  pubescent ;  fronds  thrice  pinnate  in  well-developed 

plants, 

9.  C,  lanuginosa,  Nuttall  (Illinois   to  the  Rocky  Mountains 

of  British  America,  Colorado,  and  Arizona). 

10.  C.  tcmentosa,  Link  (Carolina  to  Texas). 

1 1.  C  Eatonit  Baker  (Texas  to  Arizona). 

••  Frond  covered  beneath  with  imbricated  scales,  but  not  tomentose. 

12.  C.  Fendleri,  Hooker  (Texas  to  California). 

13.  C.  Clevelandii,  D.  C.  Eaton  (California). 

•*•  Under  surface  of  pinnules  both  tomentose  and  scaly. 

14.  C,  myriophylla,  Desvaux  (Nevada  to  Arizona). 

15.  C.  Lindheimeri,  Hooker  (Texas  to  Arizona). 

I4.  Aleuritopteris. — Involucres  various,  confluent  ordistinct.   Fronds 
covered  beneath  with  a  white  or  yellow  powder. 

16.  C.  argentea,  Hooker  (Alaska,  doubtfully). 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


13 


Plate  II.  —  Fig.  2. 

CHEILANTHES  VESTITA,  Swartz. 
Clothed  Lip-Fern. 

Cheilanthes  VESTITA :  —  Root-stocks  creeping,  entangled, 
covered  vvitli  narrow  light-brown  scales ;  fronds  herbaceous  in 
texture,  six  to  fifteen  inches  high,  oblong-lanceolate,  hirsute,  like 
the  blackish  and  shining  stalks,  with  straightish  prominently 
articulated  rusty  hairs,  bipinnate;  pinnae  triangular-ovate,  the 
lower  pairs  rather  distant;  pinnules  flat,  ovate-oblong,  obtuse, 
crowded,  more  or  less  toothed  or  incised,  the  ends  of  the  roundish 
or  oblong  lobes  reflexed,  and  forming  separate  herbaceous  involu- 
cres, which  are  pushed  back  by  the  ripened  sporangia. 

Cheilanthes  vestita,  Swartz,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  128  (1806).  —  Sciikuhr,  Krypt. 
Gew.,  p.  116,  t.  124.  —  Gray,  Manual,  ed.  i.,  p.  625.  —  Eaton,  in 
Gray,  Manual,  ed.  v.,  p.  659.  —  Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil., 
p.  134.  —  Mettenius,  iiber  Cheilanthes,  p.  29. 

Adiantum  vestitunt,  Sprengel,  Anlcit.,  p.  112  (1804)  ;  Eng.  version,  p.  135. 

Acrostichum  liispidum,  Bosc  d'Antic,  fide  Sprengel. 

Adiantum  hispidmn,  Bosc,  Jide  Swartz. 

Polypodium  lanosum,  Miciiaux,  in  herb. ! 

Nephrodium  lanosum,  Michaux,  F1.  Bor.  Am.,  ii.,  p.  270!   (1803.) 

Aspidium  lanosum,  Swartz,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  58. 

Cheilanthes  lanosa,  D.  A.  Watt,  in  Journal  of  Botany,  February,  1874, 
p.  48  :  not  of  Moore,  Index  Fil.,  p.  245,  nor  of  Eaton,  Mex.  Boun- 
dary Botany,  p.  234,  which  synonyms  belong  to  Ch.  lanuginosa, 
Nuttall. 


'4 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


Har.  —  Cli-fis  and  ledges  of  rocks,  from  the  Island  of  New  York  west- 
ward to  Illinois,  Missouri,  and  Kansas,  and  southward  to  the  Carolinas  and 
Georgia. 

Description.  —  Root-stocks  creeping,  much  matted  and 
entangled,  and  sometimes  forming  large  tufts.  They  are  nearly 
as  thick  as  a  goose-quill,  and  arc  densely  covered  with  amber- 
brown,  linear-acuminate,  ciliate-toothed  scales.  Stalks  from  three 
to  six  inches  long,  wiry,  dark-brown  or  blackish,  moderately  pol- 
ished, and,  like  the  rachis,  hirsute  with  variously  directed  light 
rusty-brown  jointed  hairs.  These  hairs  are  mostly  fine-pointed, 
and  are  composed  of  three,  four,  or  five  joints,  with  very  evident 
articulations.  The  fronds  are  usually  six  to  eight  inches  long, 
and  one  to  one  and  a  half  inches  wide,  but  are  occasionally  larger, 
and  very  often  considerably  smaller,  than  these  dimensions :  in 
outline  they  are  narrowly  oblong  or  oblong-lanceolate ;  and  they 
are  bipinnate,  or,  in  large  plants,  nearly  tripinnate.  The  texture 
is  herbaceous ;  and  the  surfaces,  especially  the  lower  surface,  are 
hirsute  with  rusty  biirs  like  those  of  the  stalks  and  rachis.  The 
pinnae  arc  mostly  opposite,  the  lower  two  or  three  pairs  more  dis- 
tant than  the  upper  ones,  triangular-ovate,  sessile,  or  nearly  so ; 
pinnules  of  similar  siiape,  and  crcnately  incised,  or,  in  larger 
fronds,  pinnatifid  with  crcnated  lobes,  the  lobes  rounded  at  the 
ends.  In  yoiuig  fertile  fronds  the  ends  of  the  lobes  are  narrowly 
recurved,  so  as  to  cover  the  sporangia,  forming  an  obscure  herba- 
ceous involucre ;  but,  as  the  sporangia  ripen,  this  is  pushed  back, 
and  the  lobes  at  length  appear  quite  flat.  The  general  color  of 
the  frond  is  a  dull  green,  shaded  with  rusty-brown. 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


lb 


Michaux's  name,  Nephrodium  lanosum,  is  undoubtedly  the 
first  published  of  the  various  names  for  this  fern,  as  a  compari- 
son of  the  dates  will  show.  But  I  can  scarcely  agree  with 
Mr.  Baker  "  to  take  up  the  oldest  specific  name  independent 
of  genus."  The  generic  name  is  the  " nomen  substantiviim"  the 
specific  name  only  an  adjective ;  and  I  should  decidedly  prefer 
to  retain,  in  use  the  first  reasonably  appropriate  published  name 
under  which  any  species  was  correctly  referred  to  its  true  genus. 
Moreover,  I  think  the  usage  of  many  of  the  most  distinguished 
systcmatists  —  ior  instance,  the  De  Candollcs,  both  the  Hook- 
ers, Bentham,  Gray,  &c. —  will  be  found  to  sustain  this  prefer- 
ence. Usually  it  is  well  to  keep  the  oldest  specific  name  when 
it  is  known  ;  but  there  is  no  absolute  law  requiring  it ;  and  to 
endeavor  to  replace  well-known  specific  names  by  older,  but 
obscurer  ones,  is  surely  reprehensible. 

The  station  on  Manhattan  Island,  on  rocks  with  an  eastern 
exposure,  near  Fort  Tryon,  is  the  most  northern  known,  and 
was  discovered  in  1866  or  1867  by  the  late  Mr.  W.  W.  Denslow. 
The  species  was  also  collected  on  Snake  Hill,  in  Hackensack 
Swamp,  N.J.,  by  Dr.  F.  J.  Bumstead,  in  1865. 


Plate  II.,  the  upper  figure,  represents  a  single  rather  large  frond  of 
Cheilanlhes  vestita,  witli  the  root-stock,  &c.  On  the  riifht  arc  fiirurc.s  of  a 
fruiting  pinnule  enlarged,  and  of  one  of  the  jointed  hairs  highly  magni- 
fied. 


[i 


TY^ic.  m 


. 


ildll 


F'1?L>:IIT 


FERNS  or   NORTH    AMERICA. 


17 


Plate    III. 

ASPLENIUM    SERRATUM,  Linn. 

Serrated  Spleenwort. 

AsPLENiUM  Serratum:  —  Fronds  growing  in  a  crown  from 
a  short  thick  erect  root-stock,  simple,  subcoriaccous  or  charta- 
ceous,  one  and  a  half  to  two  and  a  half  feet  high,  three  to  four 
inches  broad,  spatulate  or  linear-oblanceolate,  narrowed  from  the 
middle  down  to  the  very  short  stalk,  the  apex  subacute  or  short- 
acuminate,  the  edges  crcnulate  or  (more  commonly)  finely  but 
irregularly  serrate ;  midrib  stout,  slightly  channelled  above,  keeled 
and  often  blackish  purple  beneath ;  veins  closely  placed,  free,  rising 
from  the  midrib  at  an  angle  of  about  sixty-five  degrees,  mostly 
once  forked  near  the  midrib,  and  running  out  into  the  teeth  of 
the  margin ;  sori  very  much  elongated,  following  the  veins  of  the 
upper  half  of  the  frond  from  near  the  midrib  half  way  to  the 
margin;    involucres  single,  the  free  edge  entire. 

Asplcniuin  serratum,  Linn,  Sp.  PL,  p.  1538.  —  Svvartz,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  74. — 

WiLLDENOw,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  304.  —  ScnKUiiR,  Crypt.  Gcw.,  p.  61,  t. 

64.  —  Hooker,  Fil.  Exot,  t.  70;  Sp.  Fil.,  iii.,  p.  81.  —  Hooker  & 

Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  193;  &c.,  &c. 
Asplcniuin  nidus,  Raddi,  Fil.  Brasil,  p.  34,  t.  53  (not  of  Linnccus). 
Asplcnimn  crcnulatuin,  Presl,  Tentamcn  Ptcridographicc,  p.  106  (founded 

on  Raddi's  plate). 
Lingua  ccrvina  longo  lata  serraloquc  folio,  PLU^nER,  Traite  dcs  Fougeres  de 

rAmerique,  p.  108,  t.  124. 


1 


M 


i8 


IT.RNS   OF   NORTH    AMKRICA. 


Hab.  —  "Six  tufts  of  it  in  a  low  clamp  hummock  bordering  on  the 
Everglades,  Florida;"  discovered  April,  1877,  by  A.  P.  Gaudkr,  lisq. 
Common  in  the  West  Indies,  and  in  Tropical  America  from  the  Isthmus 
of  Panama  {Scciiiantt,  Hayes)  to  lirazil. 

Description.  —  Root-stock  short  and  thick,  erect,  with  abun- 
dant rootlets  covered  with  crisp  brown  wool.  The  stalk  or  stipes 
is  very  short,  —  rarely  more  than  an  inch  long,  and  often  much 
less,  —  concave  on  the  upper  or  inner  side,  and  much  carinatcd  or 
keeled  on  the  other,  the  lamina  of  the  frond  forming  a  very  nar- 
row wing  or  border  to  the  very  base.  Just  where  the  stipes  leave 
the  root-stock  there  is  an  abundant  growth  of  narrowly  linear- 
acuminate,  dark  fuscous-brown  scales,  nearly  half  an  inch  long. 
Otherwise  ilie  stipes  and  the  frond  are  perfectly  smooth.  The 
fronds  are  very  numerous  from  one  root-stock,  and  rise  from  it 
erect  or  obliquely,  gracefully  curving  outwards  in  all  directions, 
the  tips  often  somewhat  drooping.  Their  length  is  from  a  foot 
and  a  half  to  nearly  three  feet ;  and,  from  the  middle  to  near  the 
end,  they  have  a  breadth  of  from  two  and  a  half  to  four  inches. 
From  near  the  middle  they  taper  gradually  downwards  to  the 
base,  and  become  more  and  more  concave  or  channelled,  so  as  to 
carry  the  rain-water  to  the  roots.  When  fresh,  the  texture  is 
firmly  chartaceous,  or  almost  coriaceous;  but  specimens  long 
dried  become  very  brittle.  The  veins  are  closely  placed,  about 
twenty  to  the  inch,  a  few  of  them  unbranched,  but  most  of  them 
forking  near  the  base,  or  even  divided  into  three.  They  are  very 
straight,  and  diverge  from  the  midrib  at  an  angle  of  from  sixty 
to  seventy  degrees.     The  tips  of  the  veins  are  within  the  mar- 


FERNS   OF   NORTH    AMERICA. 


'9 


ginal  teeth  of  the  frond,  but  do  not  reach  to  the  very  points  of 
the  teeth.  The  Florida  specimens  are  quite  sharply  serrated,  as 
are  specimens  collected  in  Cuba  by  Mr.  Wright,  and  in  Santo 
Domins^^o  by  the  botanists  attached  to  the  United  States  Commis- 
sion of  Inquiry;  but  specimens  from  Panama,  collected  by  Mr. 
Sutton  Hayes,  and  from  New  Granada  (Mr.  A.  Schott),  are 
obscurely  crcnulated,  like  the  Brazilian  form  figured  by  Raddi. 
The  sori  are  mostly  confined  to  the  upper  half  of  the  frond,  occa- 
sionally descending  nearer  the  base,  and  arc  very  narrow  and 
about  an  inch  long,  running  along  the  superior  side  of  the  veins, 
or  of  most  of  them,  frorii  near  the  midrib  half  way,  or  a  little 
more  than  half  way,  to  the  margin.  The  midrib  is  very  stout  in 
the  lower  portion  of  the  frond,  and  is  there  much  developed  on 
the  lower  or  outer  surface;  so  that  a  section  of  it  is  triangular, 
and  shows  a  double  band  of  vascular  tissue.  The  color  of  the 
frond  is  a  fine  Icaf-grcen,  slightly  glossy  on  the  upper  surface, 
and  a  little  paler  and  duller  beneath.  The  under  side  of  the  mid- 
rib shows  more  or  less  of  a  deep  purple,  especially  in  the  living 
plant. 

This  noble  species  is  the  latest  addition  to  the  fern-flora  of 
the  United  States;  and  Mr.  Garber  is  to  be  congratulated  on  so 
fine  a  discovery.  The  number  of  typical  West-Indian  ferns 
which  have  now  been  found  in  Florida  is  considerable;  the  list 
embracing  Acrostichnm  mtretim,  Polypoditim  Pliimiila,  P.  Phyl- 
litidis,  P.  aurctim,  Pteris  longifolia,  Pi.  Crctica,  Vittaria  lineata, 
Blcclimmi  sernilatum,  Aspicuinm  scrratiim,  A.  dcntatmn,  A. 
myriophyUmn,  Aspidiwn  patens,  A.  tmitiim,  var.  glabrum,  Ne- 


■WIBP 


i: 


i 


so 


FERNS   OF  NORTH   AMKRICA. 


phrokpis  exaltata,  Aucimia  adianfifo/ia,  Ophioghssum  btilbostim, 
O.  midicanlc,  and  O.  pa/niatitin,  —  eighteen  in  all.     Three  of  these 

—  Asp/,  scnattiin,  Aspid.  ntiihtm,  and  Op/iioghssmn  palmaiwn 

—  have  been  brought  to  our  knowledge  within  the  last  few  years, 
since  the  publication  of  Dr.  Chapman's  "  Flora  of  the  Southern 
States ;  "  and  it  can  scarcely  be  rash  to  hazard  the  conjecture,  that 
there  are  yet  in  the  swamps  and  hummocks  of  Florida  more 
undiscovered  tropical  ferns  to  reward  the  diligent  explorer. 

A  few  foreign  ferns  are  more  or  less  closely  related  to  the 
present  species.  A.  sinuatttm  (Beauvois),  from  the  coast  of 
Guinea,  is  perhaps  the  most  like  it,  having  the  same  habit,  and 
nearly  as  ample  dimensions;  but  the  midrib  is  very  prominent 
on  the  tipper,  not  the  tinder,  surface.  The  bird's-nest  fern  {As- 
picniwn  Nidus  (L.),  from  South-eastern  Asia  and  Australasia,  is 
also  similar  in  habit  to  our  plant,  and  is  even  grander  in  its 
proportions;  but  it  belongs  to  a  separate  section  of  the  genus 
^Thamnopteris),  characterized  by  having  the  veinlets  connected 
at  their  tips  by  a  transverse  intramarginal  vein.  There  is  cer- 
tainly no  North-American  fern  with  which  Aspienium  serratum 
could  be  confounded. 

Plate  III.  represents  an  entire  plant,  reproduced  from  a  sketch  by  Mr. 
Garber,  about  one-eighth  natural  size;  also  a  fruiting-frond,  natural  size, 
and  a  small  portion  from  near  the  middle,  magnified  to  twice  the  natural 
size. 


;■"    :\r     fV 


Mil 


].!i  tinennn.diil. 


ASPi.ENIUM   hiBENOJDES     Fig.2 
H.R.anri-rT. 


Anns!ruiigc\i' 


ASPLLNIUM    KBENF;1JM     Fi^.l 


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rinsiruiig  (!<.(-' uj 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


21 


Plate   IV.  —  Fig.  i, 

ASPLENIUM    EBENEUM,  Aiton. 
Ebony  Spleenwort. 

Asplenium  EBENEUM :  —  Root-stock  short,  creeping;  stalks 
short,  dark  reddish-brown  or  nearly  black,  and  polished,  as  is  the 
rachis;  fronds  erect,  a  span  to  a  foot  or  more  high;  firm-mem- 
branaceous,  narrowly  linear-oblanceolate,  moderately  acuminate, 
pinnate  ;  pinnae  numerous,  mostly  horizontal  and  alternate,  usually 
crowded,  oblong  or  oblong-linear,  half  an  inch  to  an  inch  and  a 
half  long,  sessile,  dilated  or  auricled  on  the  upper  or  on  both  sides 
of  the  base,  crenate  or  serrate  or  even  incised,  mostly  obtuse,  the 
lower  ones  gradually  shorter  and  dcflexed  ;  sori  oblong,  oblique, 
numerous,  nearer  the  costa  than  the  margin,  often  confluent  at 
maturity. 

Asplenium  cbcueum,  Aiton,  Hortus  Kewensis,  ed.  i.,  iii.,  p.  462.  —  Swartz, 
Syn.  Fil.,  p.  79.— Willdenow,  Sp.  Pi.,  v.,  p.  329.  — Bigelow,  Flor. 
Bost.,  p.  422. — Torrey,  Flora  of  New  York,  ii.,  p.  492.  —  GiiAY, 
Manual,  ed.  omn.  —  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  iii.,  p.  139. 

Acrosliclmm  pla/yneuron,  Linn/eus,  Sp.  PL,  p.  1527. 

Polypodmm  auriculalum,  Linn/EUS,  Herb,  (in  part)  ! 

Aspleniwn  pofypodioidcs,  Swartz,  "  Schrad.  Journ.,  1800,  ii.,  p.  53;"  Syn. 
Fil.,  pp.  79,  272.  —  SciiKuiiR,  Kr)-pt.  Gew.,  p.  67,  t.  73. 

Asplenium  trichomanoidcs,  Miciiau.x,  F1.  Bor.  Am.,  ii.,  p.  265  ! 

Hab.  —  Canada  and  New  England  southward  to  Florida,  and  westward 


,f 


22 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


to  Indian  Territory  (Dr.  Edward  Palmer)  and  Louisiana.  It  is  found 
commonly  on  sunny  or  partially-shaded  rocky  hillsides,  but  occurs  not  unfre- 
quently  in  moister  places.  The  sporangia  mature  in'  midsummer  or  early 
autumn. 

Description.  —  The  ebony  spleenwort,  so  called  from  the 
nearly  black  and  shining  stalks  and  rachis,  has  a  short  and  rather 
stout  creeping  or  ascending  root-stock,  which  is  covered  by  the 
bases  of  old  stalks.  The  stalks  are  seldom  more  than  two  inches 
long :  they  are  nearly  terete,  and  contain  a  single  slender  vascular 
bundle.  The  young  stalks,  and  the  very  bases  of  the  mature 
ones,  bear  a  few  narrow,  slender-pointed,  black-fuscous  scales, 
composed  of  thick-walled,  oblong-rectangular  cells  arranged  in 
longitudinal  rows,  looking  under  the  microscope  like  some  kind 
of  lattice-work.  The  fronds  are  usually  six  or  eight  in  number, 
and  stand  nearly  erect,  but  commonly  all  facing  towards  the  light, 
some  of  them  making  a  twist  to  do  so.  They  arc  firmly  mem- 
branaceous in  texture,  quite  smooth,  and  remain  green  until  late 
in  the  fall,  or  even  in  favorable  places  until  the  spring.  The 
earliest  fronds  of  each  season's  growth  are  sterile,  and  much 
shorter  than  the  later  fertile  ones,  which  are  commonly  from  six 
to  twelve  inches  high,  but  sometimes  in  moist  situations  attain 
twice  that  height.  The  outline  of  the  fronds  is  linear,  tapering 
gradually  to  the  base  from  near  the  middle,  and  with  an  acute 
pinnatifid  apex.  The  pinnae  are  sessile  and  closely  placed,  often 
overlapping  each  other  a  little  at  the  dilated  and  somewhat  auri- 
cled  bases.  The  auricles  are  commonly  most  developed  on  the 
superior  margin  ;  but  not  unfrequently  the  lower  margin  is  almost 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


23 


as  much  auricled  as  the  other,  making  the  bases  of  the  pmnae 
cordate-hastate,  so  that  they  nearly  cover  the  upper  side  of  the 
rachis.  On  any  frond  of  ordinary  size  there  will  be  found  about 
forty  pinnae,  —  the  middle  ones  eight  to  ten  lines  long  and  about 
two  lines  broad,  spreading  at  right  angles  to  the  rachis,  often  sub- 
falcate  ;  the  lower  ones  gradually  shorter,  more  and  more  deflexed, 
and  the  auricles  on  each  side  of  the  base  more  nearly  equal ;  the 
very  lowest  only  two  or  th-'ee  lines  long.  The  margin  is  com- 
monly serrate ;  in  very  small  plants  barely  crenate,  and  in  luxuri- 
ant ones  incised,  with  serrated  lobes.  There  is  a  well-marked 
mid-vein  or  costa,  with  simple  or  branched  veins  pinnately 
arranged  on  cither  side.  The  sori,  from  eight  to  fifteen  in  num- 
ber, arc  borne  near  the  costa,  always  leaving  unrovered  the  green 
herbaceous  margins  of  the  piYinae.  The  indusia  are  very  delicate, 
three  or  four  times  as  long  as  they  arc  broad ;  and  when  the 
frond  is  young  they  give  to  the  under  surface  a  bright  silvery 
appearance. 

The  name  "van  scyratwn"  has  been  proposed  by  Mr.  Elihu 
Miller  (Torrcy  Bot.  Club  Bull.,  iv.,  p.  41)  for  the  large  form  with 
incised  pinnae ;  but  the  normal  condition  of  the  pinnas  is  to  be 
serrate. 

This  fern  is  said  to  have  been  found  in  South  Africr.  also ; 
but  I  have  not  seen  specimens  from  that  region. 

Var.  mimes  (Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  1.  c),  which  is  found  from  Ten- 
nessee to  Mexico  and  Peru,  will  be  described  in  a  later  number 
of  this  work  under  the  name  of  Aspknium  parviilum  (Maitens 
and  Galeotti).     To   this    plant   belongs  the  A.  trie  horn  anoides 


84  FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA, 

of  Dr.  Mettenius,  and  probably  of  Kunze  also,  but  not  that  of 
Michaux. 

Although  the  Linnaean  name  for  the  present  fern  is  unques- 
tionably the  oldest,  it  is  scarcely  probable  that  those  authors  who 
are  disposed  to  insist  upon  an  inflexible  law  of  priority  will 
attempt  to  replace  the  name  which  has  been  accepted  by  nearly 
all  botanists  for  nearly  a  century  by  one  so  utterly  inappropriate 
as  platyneuron.  Yet,  lest  they  should  do  so,  it  may  be  worth 
while  to  note  that  this  fern  was  named  Asplenimn  platyneuron 
by  the  late  Mr.  Oakes  of  Ipswich,  in  a  marginal  note  in  a  copy 
of  the  old  "  Flora  Virginica,"  now  in  my  possession. 

Plate  IV.,  Fig.  i,  represents  a  specimen  of  the  common  form  in  New 
England,  together  with  a  few  pinnae  of  the  more  serrated  or  incised  varie- 
ties, and  a  small  portion  of  a  pinna,  somewhat  magnified. 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


as 


Pl.\te  IV. — Fig.  2. 

ASPLENIUM    EBENOIDES,  R.  R.  Scott. 
Scott's  Spleenwort. 

AsPLENiUM  EBENOIDES:  —  Fronds  four  to  nine  inches  long, 
broadly  lanceolate,  pinnatifid,  pinnate  near  the  base,  the  apex  elon- 
gated and  slender ;  divisions  lanceolate  from  a  broad  base,  crenatc, 
some  of  them  elongated  and  often  proliferous,  as  is  the  apex  of 
the  frond ;  the  lowest  divisions  distinct,  shorter ;  sori  numerous 
on  the  divisions  and  on  the  long  apex,  mostly  single  and  opening 
obliquely  upwards,  but  some  of  them  double,  and  others  facing 
each  other  ir  pairs ;  stalk  blackish  and  shining,  as  is  also  the 
lower  part  of  the  rachis,  especially  on  the  under  side. 

Asplcnium  cbcnoidcs,  R.  Robinson  Scott,  MS.  and  in  Berkeley's  notice  in 
Journ.  Royal  Horticult.  See,  1S66,  p.  87,  t.  2,  f.  i.  —  Eaton,  in 
Gray's  Manual,  cd.  v.,  p.  66i.  —  Leggett,  in  Torrey  Club  Bull.,  iv., 
p.  17. 

Hab.  —  On  limestone  cliffs  of  the  Schuylkill  River  near  Philadelphia, 
Scott,  F.  Bourquin;  near  Havana,  Central  Alabama,  Miss  Tutwii.er;  on 
limestone  in  Canaan,  Conn.,  J.  S.  Adam. 

Description.  —  The  stalk  is  slender,  polished,  and  nearly 
black,  the  color  extending  on  the  under  side  as  far  as  the  middle 
of  the  frond,  or  a  little  farther.  The  frond  is  composed  of  a  taper- 
ing crenate  apex  two  or  three  inches  long,  and  of  a  number  of 


II 


26 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


lateral  segments  on  each  side,  the  upper  ones  closely  placed,  and 
connected  by  a  broad  wing  along  the  midrib,  and  the  lower  ones 
gradually  more  distinct,  the  lowest  quite  so,  and  often  a  little  auri- 
cled  above  and  below.  The  apex  is  often  proliferous,  and  so  are 
a  few  of  the  longest  segments.  The  texture  is  firmly  membra- 
naceous, and  the  surfaces  perfectly  smooth.  The  sori  are  in  a 
single  row  on  each  side  of  the  midrib  of  the  terminal  prolonga- 
tion, and  similarly  on  the  segments,  rather  short,  and  mostly  of 
the  proper  Euasplenium  type,  —  that  is,  single,  and  with  the  indu- 
sium  opening  upwards  and  inwards ;  but  near  the  base  of  nearly 
every  segment  are  a  few  diplazioid  or  scolopendrioid  sori,  with 
double  indusia  placed  back  to  back  on  the  same  veinlet  in  one 
case,  and  face  to  face  on  contiguous  veinlets  in  the  other.  The 
veins  are  everywhere  free. 

This  curious  plant  has  now  been  found  in  three  or  four  dif- 
ferent and  widely-distant  localities,  but  always  in  the  immediate 
company  of  the  walking-leaf  {Camptosonis)  and  the  ebony  spleen- 
wort  {A.  cbcneum).  While  it  differs  from  the  first  by  its  dark  and 
shining  stalk  and  rachis,  in  its  free  veins,  and  by  its  pinnatifid  or 
sub-pinnate  frond,  it  resembles  it  strongly  in  the  prolonged  and 
slender  apex,  in  the  irregular  sori,  and  especially  in  its  proliferous 
habit;  a.id,  in  the  very  respects  in  w'hich  it  differs  from  this,  it 
resembles  the  other.  For  these  reasons.  Rev.  M.  J.  Berkeley,  in 
the  article  cited  on  the  preceding  page,  is  strongly  inclined  to 
suspect  that  it  is  a  true  natural  hybrid  of  the  two.  That  this 
view  is  correct  certainly  appears  probable ;  but  it  can  only  be 
established  by  a  successful  attempt  to  produce  the  present  plant 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


27 


by  artificial  hybridizing ;  and  I  would  strongly  recommend  this 
attempt  to  those  persons  who  have  facilities  for  experiments  of 
the  kind, 

Mr.  Merrill  of  Cambridgeport  has  had  A.  cbcnoides  in  culti- 
vation for  some  time,  and  finds  it  easy  to  multiply  plants  by  caring 
properly  for  the  proliferous  buds. 

There  is  an  Asplenium  Hcndersoni,  figured  by  Lowe  at  Plate 
1 2  of  the  fifth  volume  of  his  work  on  Ferns,  which  bears  consid- 
erable resemblance  to  our  plant,  but  lacks  the  long  and  slender 
apex,  and  apparently  is  not  proliferous.  It  originated  spontane- 
ously in  the  ferneries  of  Earl  Fitzwilliam  at  Wentworth  House, 
England.  Asplenium  pinnatifidiim  (Nuttall)  also  bears  consid- 
erable resemblance  to  A.  cbcnoides,  but  has  a  green  herbaceous 
midrib  or  rachis,  a  sinuous-margined  prolongation,  thicker  text- 
ure, and  is  very  rarely,  if  indeed  ever,  proliferous. 

Plate  IV.,  Fig.  2.  —  A  frond  oi  Asplenium  ebenoides,  the  segments  less 
elongated  than  usual. 


HU. 


'i 


'  4 


,4 


PicU,;  V 


•H'UM  l,:JNAKJA    b'lil. 
fiWAKTZ,. 


HriTRYCHFilM  BOR^lAli.    hd.CV 


'.],;,.!  ,F. 


Arrnslrui.^iiC'j.l.iUi 


HYOHiUM  lANlMi'OLATiJM    P'if$^. 


^iicC'j.l.iUi 


Ilf! 


ill 


FKRNS  OF  NORTH  AMKRICA. 


«9 


Pijvtk  V.  —  Fk;.  I. 

BOTRYCIIIUM    LUNARIA,  Swartz. 
Moonwort. 

BoTKYCHiUM  Lunakia:  —  Plant  smooth,  fleshy,  commonly 
four  to  ten  inches  high ;  sterile  segment  sessile  near  the  middle 
of  the  plant,  oblong,  rarely  ovate,  obtuse,  pinnately  cleft ;  lobes  or 
pinnae  semi-lunar  from  a  broadly  cuneate  base,  the  sides  concave, 
the  outer  margin  rounded,  entire  or  obscurely  crenulate,  rarely 
incised  ;  veins  flabcllately  forking ;  fertile  segment  twice  to  thrice 
pinnate. 

Botrycliinm  Limaria,  Swartz,  in  Schrad.  Journ.  Bot.,  iSoo,  ii.,  p.  no;  Syn. 
Fil.,  p.  171.  —  ScuKunu,  Krj'pt.  Gew.,  p.  156,  t.  154, — Wm.i.de- 
Now,  Sp.  Pi.,  v.,  p.  61.  —  Mooiu:,  Nat.  Pr.  Brit.  Perns,  t.  51,  A. — 
Hooker,  Fior.  Bor.  Am.,  ii.,  p.  265;  Brit.  Ferns,  t.  48.  —  Milde, 
Nov.  Act.  Acad.  Nat.  Cur.,  x.wi.,  pars  ii.,  p.  657,  t.  47,  48;  Fil. 
Eur.  et  Atl,  p.  192;  Botr.  Monogr.,  p.  loi.  —  Eato.v,  in  Gray's 
Manual,  cd.  v.,  p.  671. 

Osmunda  Limaria,  Linn.ix's,  Sp.  Pi.,  p.  1519. 

Hah.  —  Dry  elevated  pastures  and  waste  lands,  from  within  die  Arctic 
Circle  to  Labrador,  Newfoundland,  Canada,  New  York,  Lake  Superior,  and 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  Colorado,  Dr.  Parry.  Europe,  Asia,  Australia,  and 
Tierra  del  Fuego. 

Description.  —  The  moonwort,  and  all  other  species  of 
Botrychium,  have  a  short,  fleshy,  nearly  erect,  cordlike  rhizoma, 


ll  i 


, 


J       i     I 


30 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


and  irreguhr,  mostly  simple,  spreading  roots,  both  containing 
starch  in  abundance.  Commonly  but  a  single  frond  is  produced 
each  year.  This  frond,  in  all  the  species,  consists  of  a  common 
stalk,  a  posterior  sterile  segment,  and  an  anterior  fertile  seg- 
ment. The  base  of  the  stalk  is  enlarged,  and  encloses  in  a  rudi- 
mentary condition  the  fronds  for  the  next  year  or  two.  In  the 
position  of  these  rudiments,  and  in  their  development,  v  law  of 
alternation  has  been  observed ;  that  is,  the  sterile  segment  for 
one  year  occupies  the  position  held  by  the  fertile  segment  of  the 
preceding  year,  so  that  a  longitudinal  section  of  the  bud  contained 
in  the  base  of  the  stalk  will  show  the  rudiments  for  two  or  even 
three  years  packed  closely  away,  and  with  the  fertile  and  sterile 
segments  placed  below  each  other  alternately  to  right  and  to  left. 
In  B.  yirginiamim,  the  very  base  of  the  stalk  is  split  open  on 
one  side,  more  or  less  disclosing  the  bud ;  but  in  all  the  other 
species  there  is  no  such  cleft,  and  the  bud  is  completely  enclosed. 
There  is  generally  also  present  a  loose  outer,  sheath-like  covering, 
which  is  the  withered  base  of  the  stalk  of  the  preceding  year. 

Botrydduju  Ltinaria  varies  in  total  height  from  an  inch  and 
a  half  to  a  foot;  but  the  ^reater  part  of  specimens  examined 
measure  from  six  to  nine  inches  long.  Of  this  length,  about  a 
half  —  sometimes  a  little  more  or  a  little  less  than  a  half  —  is 
taken  up  by  the  common  sta-k,  which  is  erect,  smooth,  terete,  and 
fleshy.  The  '  ter.ie  segment  is  almost  always  closely  sessile,  and 
commonly  from  a  fourth  to  a  third  part  of  the  whole  length  01  the 
plant,  or  from  one  and  a  half  to  three  inches  long.  It  is  oblong 
and  obtuse  in  outline,  fleshy,  and  divided  into  from  two  to  nine 


\l 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


3J 


(usually  four  to  seven)  pairs  of  nearly  opposite  divisions,  besides  a 
smaller  (usually  two-  or  three-  lobed)  terminal  division.  These 
divisions  have  a  broad  wedge-shaped  base,  but  rapidly  widen  out 
on  both  the  upper  and  lower  sides,  and  have  the  outer  margin 
rounded,  so  that  they  are  more  or  less  clearly  moon-shaped : 
whence  the  common  name  of  the  plant.  The  outer  margin  is 
either  entire,  crenulate,  or  incised ;  sometimes  deeply  so,  as  in 
var.  inciswn  of  Milde.  In  var,  tripartittmi  (Moore,  Nat.  Print. 
Brit.  Ferns,  8°  ed.,  p.  324)  the  two  lowest  divisions  arc  elongated 
and  pinnately  parted,  rendering  the  whole  sterile  segment  ternate. 
The  venation  is  essentially  flabellatcly  dichotomous.  A  single 
vascular  bundle  proceeds  from  the  midrib  of  the  sterile  segment 
to  each  division :  this  vascular  bundle  or  vein  forks  once  at  the 
very  base  of  the  division,  and  its  two  branches  again  where  the 
division  begins  to  widen,  and  these  veinlets  again  three  or  fuur 
times  before  the  outer  margin  is  reached.  The  fertile  segment  is 
long-peduncled,  and  usually  overtops  the  sterile  segment  consider- 
ably. It  is  twice  or  thrice  pinnately  compound,  forming  a  panicle 
not  unlike  a  miniature  cluster  of  grapes ;  and  from  this  resem- 
blance the  genus  takes  its  name  of  Botrychittm,  or  Grape-fern. 
The  spore-cases  are  globular,  about  half  a  line  in  diameter,  and 
open  transversely  into  two  equal  valves.  Their  te.xturc  is  sub- 
coriaceous,  and  no  vestige  of  a  ring  can  be  observed.  The  spore- 
cases  of  all  the  species  of  the  genus  arc  essentially  alike  in  all 
respects.  The  spores  are  pale  or  colorless,  roundish-tetrahcdral, 
having  the  general  surface  minutely  roughened  or  granular,  but 
with  the  three  straighter  edges  marked  by  a  smooth  band.     The 


3i 


>fii 


3= 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


plant  is  of  course  perennial,  though  only  to  be  found  during  the 
spring  and  summer,  as  it  is  mature  (in  England  certainly)  in 
July,  and  soon  afterwards  withers  away. 

My  finest  American  specimens  are  from  Nipigon  Bay,  Lake 
Superior,  collected  by  Mr.  J.  Macoun,  and  presented  to  me,  to- 
gether with  others  from  various  places  in  Canada,  by  Mr.  Watt  of 
Montreal.  The  Nipigon-Bay  plants  are  finer  and  larger  than  the 
average  European  specimens,  being  fully  nine  inches  long,  the 
sterile  segment  with  five  pairs  of  ample  pinnae,  and  the  fruiting 
one  fully  tripinnate.  The  Colorado  plants  are  small,  but  clearly 
of  this  species.  In  the  Bulletin  of  the  Torrey  Botanical  Club  for 
October,  1877,  Mr.  George  E.  Davenport  announces  the  discov- 
ery of  the  moonwort  near  Syracuse,  N.Y.,  by  Miss  Jane  Hosmcr, 
Mr.  E.  W.  Munday,  and  Mrs.  Stiles  M.  Rust,  and  describes  a 
remarkable  form  with  very  distant,  alternate,  rounded  lobes.  Mr. 
Davenport  has  favored  me  with  one  of  the  Syracuse  specimens, 
and  with  drawings  of  some  of  the  others. 

The  moonwort  was  anciently  employed  in  alchemy  and 
magic ;  and,  until  a  comparatively  recent  period,  it  was  consid- 
ered "  singular  to  heal  green  and  fresh  wounds."  But  its  virtues 
were  never  rightly  manifested  unless  the  plant  was  collected  by 
moonlight,  —  probably  not  an  easy  task. 

Plate  v.,  Fig.  i.  —  Botrychhim  Lunaria,  a  plant  of  medium  size, 
much  like  one  of  the  Labrador  specimens.  The  cluster  of  sporangia  also 
belongs  to  this  species ;  tliough  in  respect  to  tlie  sporangia  there  is  little 
difference  between  several  of  the  species  of  this  genus. 


II 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


33 


Plate  V.  —  Fig.  2. 

BOTRYCHIUM   LANCEOLATUM,  Angstrom. 
Lanceolate  Grape-Fern. 

BoTRYCHiUM  LANCEOLATUM :  —  Plant  two  to  eight  inches 
high,  scarcely  fleshy ;  the  common  stalk  slender,  and  bearing  high 
up,  near  the  short-stalked  fruiting  panicle,  a  sessile  deltoid  mem- 
branaceous once  or  twice  pinnatifid  sterile  segment ;  divisions 
few,  oblique  or  somewhat  spreading,  oblong-lanceolate,  straight, 
acute,  the  base  narrowed  and  dccurrent;  lowest  pair  much  the 
longest ;  veins  forking  from  a  mid-vein  ;  fertile  panicle  with  slen- 
der branches  and  seldom  crowded  sporangia. 

Botrychiicm  lanceolatum,  Angstrom,  "  Botaniska  Notiscr,  1S54,  p.  68  ;  1866, 
pp.  36,  37."  —  MiLDE,  Nov.  Acad.,  Acad.  Nat.  Cur.,  xxvi.,  pars  ii.,  p. 
674,  t.  "51,  f.  178-181  ;  Fil.  Eur.  ct.  Atl.,  p.  197;  Monogr.  Botr., 
p.  132,  t.  8,  f.  I  (venation). —  Eaton,  in  Gray's  Manual,  ed.  v.,  p. 
671. 

Osmuvia  lanccolata,  Gmeun,  "  in  Nov.  Comment.  Acad.  Pctrop,  xii.  (1768), 
p.  516,  t.  II,  f.  I." 

Botrychhnn  riiiaccum,  var.  lanccolatum,  Moore,  Ind.  Fil.,  p.  211.  (For 
additional  synonymy,  consult  Mildc's  papers  above  cited.) 

Had. — Along  mossy  stream-banks  and  in  moist  pastures,  from  New 
Brunswick,  Rev.  J.  Fowler  ;  to  Colorado,  Buandegee.  Near  Bethlehem, 
New  Hampshire,  Miss  C.  C.  Haskei.i..  Goshen,  Massachusetts,  Rev.  H. 
G.  Jesup.     Orange,  Connecticut,  Oscar  Harger.     Near  Utica  and  Syracuse, 


34 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


New  York,  Edwin  Hunt,  Mrs.  Dr.  Barnes,  Mrs.  Rust,  etc.  Dutchess 
County,  New  York,  L.  H.  Hoysradt.  Southern  New  York  and  New  Jersey, 
C.  F.  Austin.  Susquehanna  County,  Pennsylvania,  A.  P.  Garber.  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  fide  Milde.  Lake  Superior,  H.  Gillman.  Also  in  Unalaska, 
Northern  Europe  and  Siberia. 

Description.  —  This  fern  is  usually  about  five  to  seven 
inches  high  ;  small  specimens  being  sometimes  only  two  or  three 
inches  high,  and  very  large  ones  attaining  the  height  of  eight  or 
nine  inches.  The  common  stalk  is  more  than  four-fifths  of  the 
whole  height  of  the  plant,  so  that  the  sterile  and  the  fruiting  seg- 
ments are  borne  close  together  on  the  top  of  a  slender  common 
stalk.  This  stem  or  stalk  is  moderately  fleshy,  from  half  a  line 
to  a  line  and  a  half  thick,  and  considerably  swollen  at  the  base, 
where  it  encloses  the  bud  for  the  fronds  for  the  next  year  or  two. 
The  sterile  segment  in  full-sized  plants  is  closely  sessile  and 
broadly  triangular  in  form,  measuring  an  inch  in  width,  and 
scarcely  more  than  an  inch  in  length.  There  are  about  four  pairs 
of  pinnae  or  side-divisions,  all  set  on  obliquely ;  the  lowest  ones 
decidedly  largest,  ovate-lanceolate  in  shape,  sub-acute  at  the  apex, 
the  sides  cut  about  half-way  to  the  mid-vein  into  little  obliquely- 
placed  ovate-oblong  lobes,  and  (.he  base  gradually  narrowed,  but 
attached  to  the  central  rachis  by  a  manifest  wing.  The  second 
and  third  pairs  of  lateral  divisions  are  successively  smaller,  and 
are  also  lobcd  or  toothed,  but  less  so  than  the  lowest  pair.  There 
is  sometimes  a  fourth  pair  of  short,  slightly-toothed  divisions,  and 
then  the  rhomboid-ovate  apex,  which  is  moderately  acute,  and 
either  slightly  toothed  or  entire.     In  very  small  specimens  there 


.1*  ! 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


35 


are  only  two  or  three  pairs  of  side-divisions,  and  these  are  oblong- 
lanceolate  and  nearly  entire,  the  lowest  pair  longest,  as  in  more 
fully  developed  plants. 

There  is  a  single  central  vein  in  the  main  rachis,  and  this 
sends  off  a  branch  to  each  lateral  division,  and  from  these 
branches  in  turn  a  veinlet  extends  to  each  lobe.  If  the  lobes  are 
toothed,  there  is  a  smaller  veinlet  extending  to  each  tooth.  Every 
vein  or  veinlet  leaves  its  parent-vein  some  distance  below  the 
base  of  the  division  or  lobe  to  which  it  runs  ;  so  that  below  each 
pair  of  pinnae  there  will  be  seen  in  the  rachis  a  central  vein  and 
two  gradually  diverging  lateral  veins ;  but  these  branch-veins 
unite  with  the  central  vein  about  opposite  the  upper  side  of  the 
base  of  the  next  lower  pair  of  side-divisions. 

The  fruiting  segment  has  a  stalk  from  three  to  nine  lines 
long,  and  is  usually  a  little  longer  than  the  sterile  segment.  It  is 
usually  twice  pinnate,  the  lower  pinnae  or  branches  nearly  erect  or 
slightly  spreading,  and  nearly  as  long  as  the  middle  portion.  All 
the  branches  and  branchlets  are  more  elongated  than  in  the  other 
small  Botrychia,  and  the  sporangia  are  rather  distantly  placed ; 
so  that  the  whole  panicle  is  seldom  dense,  but  comparatively  lax 
and  sparingly  fruited. 

As  in  the  other  species  of  the  genus,  it  not  unfrequently 
happens  that  some  portion  of  the  sterile  segment  will  be  much 
contracted,  and  bear  a  few  sporangia.  The  whole  plant  is  per- 
fectly smooth,  and  much  less  fleshy  than  B.  Ltmaria  or  B.  tey- 
natum. 

Very  young  plants  of   this  species   are   not   easily  distin- 


36 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


guished  from  young  plants  of  B.  matricariccfoUum  ;  and,  indeed, 
small  specimens  of  both  these  species  were  formerly  confounded 
with  B.  simplex.  In  the  "Synopsis  Filicum  "  this  is  considered 
a  variety  of  B.  rutaccnm  [=  B.  matrtcaricefolitim\  but  the  very 
careful  and  pains-talcing  studies  of  Dr.  Milde  show  them  to  be 
both  well-marked  and  distinct  species  ;  and  this  view  is  confirmed 
by  a  close  inspection  of  the  very  numerous  specimens  of  both 
species  which  I  have  received  from  numerous  correspondents  in 
New  England,  New  York,  British  America,  and  Colorado.  The 
differences  between  the  two  species  will  be  carefully  pointed  out 
when  B.  matricaricefoUum  comes  to  be  figured  and  described  in  a 
later  portion  of  this  work. 

B.  lanceolatum  grows  chiefly  in  damp  mossy  places  along 
shaded  rills,  but  sometimes  on  moist  hill-side  pastures.  My  first 
specimens  were  collected  near  Tappantown,  New  York,  in  1857, 
by  Mr.  Coe  F.  Austin.  The  sporangia  are  ripe  in  New  York 
about  the  middle  of  July. 

The  drawing,  Plate  V.,  Fig.  2,  represents  a  plant  of  Botrychium  lance- 
olatum of  full  size :  occasionally  the  huuit  is  a  little  stouter  and  more  con- 
densed. 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


37 


PiJVTE  V.  —  Fig.  3. 

BOTRYCHIUM   BOREALE,  Milde. 
IJorthem  Grape- Fern. 

BoTRYCHiUM  BOREALE :  —  Plant  two  and  a  half  to  seven 
inches  high,  smooth;  the  sterile  segment  dark  green,  fleshy, 
placed  considerably  above  the  middle  of  the  plant,  sessile,  cordate- 
ovate  or  somewhat  triangular  in  outline,  pinnately  cleft  to  a  nar- 
row rachis ;  pairs  of  divisions  two  to  four,  closely  placed,  some- 
times overlapping,  the  lowest  ones  rounded-ovate  from  a  narrow 
base,  cut  half-way  down  into  two  to  four  broad  obtuse  lobes ; 
upper  divisions  successively  smaller,  entire  or  slightly  lobed ; 
veins  flabellately  forking;  fertile  panicle  with  a  stalk  about  as 
long  as  the  sterile  segment,  twice  or  thrice  pinnate,  the  sporangia 
crowded. 

Botrychium  boreale,  Milde,  Botanische  Zeitung,  xv.  (1S57),  p.  880;  Nova 
Acta  Acad.  Nat.  Cur.,  xxvi.,  pars  ii.,  p.  672,  t.  51,  fig.  175-177  ;  Id. 
P-  757.  t.  55.  figs-  I.  2  ;  Fil.  Eur.  et  Atl.,  p.  194;  Botr.  Monogr., 
p.  118. 

Botrychium  Lmtaria,  var.  4,  Kaulfuss,  Enum.  Fil.,  p.  25. 

Botrychium  Lunaria,  var.  boreale.  Fries,  Herb.  Normale,  xvi.,  85. 

Hais.  —  Unalaska,  Ciiamisso.  Sweden  and  Norway,  Lapland,  Finland, 
and  Eastern  Siberia. 

Description.  —  The   Northern    grape-fern   has   scarcely   a 


38 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


ily 

i|l 

t  !idii::i 

riii^i 


place  in  our  flora,  having  been  collected  within  our  territorial 
limits  but  once,  and  that  sixty  years  ago  by  the  distinguished 
naturalist  and  poet,  Adelbert  von  Chamisso. 

The  plant  is  commonly  of  smaller  stature  than  the  other 
species  figured  on  Plate  V. ;  and  the  common  stalk  is  long  for 
the  size  of  the  plant,  so  that  the  sterile  and  the  fertile  portions  of 
the  frond  are  borne  near  epch  other,  as  in  B.  lanccolatnm  and  B. 
matricayiccfolhtm.  The  sterile  segment  is  closely  sessile,  broadly 
ovate  or  somewhat  triangular  in  shape,  but  subcordate  at  the 
base.  The  divisions  arc  broad  and  foliaceous,  and  placed  so 
closely  that  they  are  often  imbricating  or  overlapping.  The  low- 
est divisions  are  nearly  as  broad  as  they  are  long,  and  are  in 
shape  rhomboid-ovate,  with  rounded  contours.  They  are  cleft 
nearly  half-way  to  the  base  into  a  few  lobes  which  are  rounded  at 
the  ends.  The  succeeding  divisions  are  similar  in  shape,  but  are 
gradually  smaller  and  less  lobed ;  the  terminal  portion  scarcely 
acute,  and  about  three-lobed.  The  length  of  the  sterile  segment 
is  an  inch  or  a  little  less  in  several  specimens  from  Dovrefjeld 
and  Westrobolhnia,  and  the  breadth  at  the  base  is  about  four- 
fifths  of  the  length.  The  vascular  bundle  is  already  separated 
into  two  or  three  veins  when  it  enters  the  base  of  the  lateral 
divisions,  and  these  veins  are  repeatedly  forked,  so  as  to  be  flabel- 
lately  dichotomous.     Milde  says,  "  Nervatio  cyclopteyidis." 

The  fruiting  segment  is  borne  on  a  stalk  rising  from  the 
base  of  the  sterile  segment,  and  about  equal  to  it  in  length :  the 
panicle  itself  is  rather  scanty  in  my  specimens,  but  more  generous 
in  some  of  those  figured  by  Milde ;  and  the  sporangia  are  so  dense 


t                : 

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FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


39 


as  to  be  fairly  contiguous.  Dr.  Milde  figures  some  specimens 
decidedly  larger,  and  with  more  numerous  lobes  than  those  I  have 
seen ;  and  in  several  instances  the  sterile  segment  is  represented 
as  producing  a  few  sporangia. 

The  thickish  fleshy  frond,  and  the  flabellatc  venation  of  the 
broader  and  more  rounded  pinnae,  will  serve  to  distinguish  this 
fern  from  B.  lanccohititni,  if  it  should  be  found  again  in  North 
America;  while  the  whole  shape  and  details  of  the  sterile  seg- 
ment will  prevent  any  confounding  of  it  with  the  commoner 
moonwort. 

Mr.  George  E.  Davenport  has  recently  been  making  a 
special  study  of  the  smaller  species  of  Botrycliittm,  and  informs 
me  that  he  finds  some  good  sped  fie  distinctions  in  the  character 
of  the  buds.  His  contributions  to  the  literature  of  this  genus 
will  be  read  with  great  interest.  Dr.  Milde  only  notices  the 
peculiarity  in  the  bud  of  B.  Virg'mianmn  referred  to  in  a  preced- 
ing page,  and  uses  the  character  of  "  buds  pilose "  and  "  buds 
never  pilose  "  to  some  extent  in  separating  the  remaining  species. 

Plate  v.,  Fig.  3,  represents  a  plant  of  medium  size:  the  specimen 
drawn  is  from  Sweden,  and  is  preserved  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Davenport. 


I 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


41 


Plate  \'I.  —  Fig.   i. 

CHEILANTHES   LANUGINOSA,  Nuttall. 

Woolly  Lip-Fern. 

Cheilanthes  lanuginosa:  —  Stalks  densely  tufted,  slender, 
brownish-black,  at  first  clothed  with  spreading  woolly  hairs,  at 
length  nearly  smooth ;  fronds  two  to  four  inches  long,  one  to  one 
and  a  half  broad,  ovate-lanceolate,  tripinnate,  or  bipinnate  with 
crenately  pinnatifid  pinnules;  pinnae  varying  from  deltoid  to 
oblong-ovate,  the  lowest  ones  distant,  the  upper  ones  gradually 
closer ;  the  ultimate  pinnules  minute,  not  more  than  half  a  line 
long  and  broad,  or  the  terminal  one  more  obovate  and  a  little 
longer,  —  all  very  much  crowded;  upper  surface  scantily  tomen- 
tose,  the  lower  densely  matted  with  soft  whitish-brown  dis- 
tinctly-articulated flattened  woolly  hairs ;  involucres  very  narrow, 
formed  of  the  unchanged  herbaceous  margin  of  the  segments. 

Cheilanthes  lanuginosa,  Nuttall,  MS.  in  herb.  Hooker!,  and  in  Hooker, 
Sp.  Fil.,  ii.,  p.  99  (where  it  is  wrongly  quoted  as  a  synonym  of  Ch. 
vcsiila).  —  D.  C.  Eaton,  in  Gray's  Manual,  Mar.  1863,  Addenda, 
p.  ci. ;  cd.  V;,  p.  659.  —  HooKiiu  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  139. 

Cheilanthes  veslita.  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  1.  c.,  excl.  syn.,  t.  loS,  B.  —  Gray,  Man- 
ual, cd.  i.,  ii.,  iii.,  not  of  Swartz,  and  Willtlcnow. 

Cheilanthes  lanosa,  D.  C.  Eaton,  in  Botany  of  Me.xican  Boundary,  p.  234, 
not  Nephrodiiini  lanosinn,  Michx. 

Cheilanthes  gracilis,  Mettemus,  liber  Cheilanthes,  p.  36. 

Myrioptcris  gracilis.  Fee,  Gen.  Fil.,  p.  150,  t.  29,  fig.  6. 


ilill 


42 


.liRNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


Hab. —  In  the  United  States  from  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  to  Utah, 
Colorado,  New  IMexico,  and  Arizona.  In  liritish  America,  collected  by 
BouRGEAU  at  the  eastern  base  of  the  Rockv  IMountains,  near  lat.  si°. 
Fort  Independence,  Mo.,  Nuttall!  It  grows  in  dense  tufts  on  dry  ex- 
posed rocks  and  cliffs. 

Description.  —  Root-stocks  rather  short,  creeping,  formiij^ 
a  matted  mass ;  the  chaff  narrow  and  somewhat  crisped,  deep 
cinnamon-brown,  with  a  blackened  midrib;  fronds  densely  clus- 
tered, two  to  four  inches  long,  or  sometimes  very  much  smaller; 
stalks  about  as  long  as  the  frond,  very  slender,  wiry,  but  rather 
fragile,  very  dark  brown  or  almost  black,  scantily  furnished  with 
spreading,  pale-fulvous,  jointed  ha'rs.  In  the  larger  specimen  - 
the  fronds  art  fully  tripinnate ;  the  pinnx  triangular  and  opposite 
at  the  base  of  the  frond,  but  towards  the  apex  gradually  become 
ovate,  and  are  alternate  and  crowded.  The  ultimate  pinnules  are 
very  much  crowded,  very  minute,  —  scarce!)'  half  a  line  in  diame- 
ter,—  rounded,  or  slightly  obovatc;  the  terminal  ones  rather 
larger,  and  obscurely  lobcd.  The  upper  surface  is  scantily  pro- 
vided with  whitish  webby  hairs  ;  the  lower  surface  heavily  covered 
and  obscured  with  pale-fulvous  matted  wool,  the  fibres  of  which 
a'"c  flattened  and  plainly  articulated.  The  involucres  can  be  seen 
only  by  carefully  removing  the  wool,  and  arc  then  found  to  be 
almost  continuous  round  the  lobule,  and  formed  of  its  scarcely 
changed  herbaceous  margin.  The  general  color  of  the  plant  is 
of  a  pale  grayish-green,  intermingled  with  light  brown. 

This  fern  was  originally  discovered  in  Missouri  by  Thomas 
Nuttall;  and  his  specimens,  with,  his  manuscript  name,  are  pre- 
served in  the  Iloukerian  herbarium. 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


43 


In  writing  the  "Species  Filicum,"  Sir  W.  J.  Hooker  seems 
to  have  confounded  it  with  Ch.  vestita  of  Swartz ;  but  his  descrip- 
tion and  figure  apply  to  the  present  plant.  Dr.  Fee's  figure  is 
also  characteristic,  though  representing  a  specimen  not  so  large 
as  wc  commonly  see.  Those  persons  who  call  the  plant  Clicilan- 
tJies  gracilis  (Riehl)  are  only  perpetuating  an  error,  or  lapsus 
calami, oi  Mettenius  in  quoting  Fee;  for  Fee  says  plainly, "C//«- 
lant  cs  vestita  (Riehl,  non  Sw.),  No.  529." 


Plate  VI.,  Fig.  2.  —  Clicilantlics  hinnginosa,  of  natural  size,  with  a 
small  portion  considirably  enlarged,  the  woolly  hairs  removed  to  show 
the  narrow  involucre. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


45 


Plate  VI.  —  Fig.  2. 

CHEILANTHES   CALIFORNICA,   Mettenius. 

Californian  Lip-Fern. 

Cheilanthes  Californica:  —  Stalks  densely  tufted,  dark 
brown,  glossy,  four  to  eight  inches  long ;  frond  somewhat  shorter, 
smooth  and  green  on  both  surfaces,  broadly  delto'd-ovate,  deli- 
cately quadripinnatifid,  —  i.e.,  the  upper  portion  of  the  main  rachis 
and  all  its  divisions  with  a  narrow  herbaceous  wing  or  border; 
lowest  pinnae  much  the  largest,  triangular-ovate,  more  developed 
on  the  lower  side ;  upper  pinnae  gradually  smaller  and  simpler ; 
ultimate  pinnules  lanceolate,  very  acute,  incised  or  serrate,  and, 
when  fruitini,,  with  usually  separate  crescent-shaped  membrana- 
ceous involucres  in  the  sinuses  between  the  teeth,  which  also  are 
often  at  length  recurved. 

Cheilanthes  Californica,  Mettenius,  iibcr  Cheilanthes,  p.  44. 

Hypolcpis  Californica,  Hookeu,  Sp.  Ml.,  ii.,  p.  7 1    t.  8S,  A.  —  Hooker  & 

Baker,  Syn.  Fil,  p.  131. 
Aspidotis  Californica,  NuiTAr.i.,  MS.  in  licib.  I  look. —  Houk.,  Sp.  Fil.,  1.  c. 

Haii.  —  In  moist  and  sliady  ravines  and  caiions  ;  known  only  from  the 
coast  ranges  ot  liie  soutla  1 11  pail  (A  California,  and  from  .Sonora  in  Mexico. 

Description.  —  Root-stocks  short,  creeping,  very  chaffy,  with 
rather  rigid,  narrow,  d.irk-hrmvn  scales :.  stalks  chestnut-brown, 
smooth  and  shining,  usuallv  about  six  to  eight  inches  long,  and 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


erect,  or  nearly  so  ;  fronds  smooth  and  green,  herbaceous,  mostly 
about  three  or  four  inches  long  and  three-fourths  as  broad, 
triangular-ovate  in  outline,  quadripinnatifid,  —  i.e.,  four  times 
pinnate,  but  with  a  very  narrow  wing  bordering  the  divisions  of 
the  rachis,  as  well  as  the  upper  half  of  the  main  rachis.  The 
glossy-brown  appearance  of  the  stalk  continues  some  distance  up 
the  rachis  and  its  divisions,  especially  on  the  under  surface.  The 
two  lowest  pinnae  are  opposite,  and  very  much  larger  and  broader 
than  the  others.  They  are  much  broader  on  the  inferior  than  on 
the  superior  side,  the  lowest  inferior  secondary  pinna  being  about 
one-third  as  long  as  the  rest  of  the  whole  frond.  The  quaternary 
or  smallest  divisions  arc  two  or  three  lines  long,  rather  less  than 
a  line  broad,  and  are  lanceolate  and  very  acute.  They  bear  two 
or  three  acute  teeth  on  each  side,  and  in  the  fruiting-frond  a  deli- 
cate, whitish,  crescent-shaped  involucre  sweeps  from  the  apex  of 
each  tooth  half  way  up  the  side  of  the  next  tooth  above ;  but 
sometimes  one  involucre  runs  into  the  next.  When  the  sporangia 
ripen,  the  teeth  are  usually  reflcxcd  partly  over  the  sorus. 

This  very  pretty  and  dclicau  little  fern  reminds  one,  by  its 
general  habit,  of  the  still  rarer  Cystoptcris  montana.  The  frond, 
however,  is  of  rather  firmer  texture,  and  is  still  more  finely  divided. 
There  is  no  other  North-American  fern  \vhich  it  resembles  even 
slightly.  It  was  formerly  very  rare  in  collections,  but  of  recent 
years  has  been  liberally  distributed  by  the  botanists  of  Santa 
Barbara,  \\hcrc  it  seems  to  be  reasonably  common. 

It  certainly  has  nothing  in  common  with  the  recognized 
species  of  Ilypohpis,  a  genus  of  large  ferns,  which  is,  perhaps. 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA.  47 

best  arranged  with  the  Aspidiece.  Chcilanthcs  Schimperi  (Kunze) 
from  Abyssinia,  and  Ch.  incisa  (Kunze).  from  Brazil,  are  its  near- 
est alhes;  and  the  three  form  a  good  subordinate  group  of  the 
sub-genus  Adiantopsis. 

The  figure  represents  a  fully-developed  frond,  quite  as  large  as  one 
often  sees,  and  a  small  portion  of  a  fertile  segment,  the  latter  much  en- 
larged.  and  showing  well  the  peculiar  lunately-curved  involucre. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


49 


Plate  VII. 

ASPIDIUM   NOVEBORACENSE,  Swartz. 
New -York  Shield-Fern. 

AspiDiuM  NovEBORACENSE :  —  Root-stoclc  elongated,  creep- 
ing,, cord-like ;  stalks  about  one-third  the  length  of  the  fronds,  slen- 
der, at  first  sparingly  chaffy,  soon  naked ;  fronds  one  to  two  feet 
long,  thin-mcmbranaccous,  minutely  ciliate  and  finely  hairy  along 
the  midribs  and  veins,  especially  beneath,  lanceolate  in  outline, 
with  an  acuminate  apex  and  a  gradually  narrowed  base,  pinnate ; 
pinnaj  sessile,  lanceolate,  acuminate,  deeply  pinnatifid,  the  lower 
four  to  six  pairs  gradually  shorter  and  deflcxed,  the  lowest  mere 
auricles ;  lobes  crowded,  flat,  oblong,  obtuse,  entire,  basal  ones 
occasionally  enlarged  and  toothed;  veins  free,  pinnate  from  the 
mid-vein,  straight,  simple,  rarely  a  few  of  them  forked ;  sori 
minute,  placed  near  the  margin ;  indusium  reniform,  glandular, 
and  sometimes  with  scattered  hairs,  delicate  and  withering  as  the 
fruit  ripens. 

Aspidium  Novcboracc7ise,  Swartz,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  55.  —  Scukuiiu,  Krypt.  Gew., 

p.  47,   t.  46.  —  WiLLDEXOW,  Sp.  PL,  v.,  p.  24S. KUNZE,   10   Silli- 

man's  Journ.,  1S48,  vi.,  p.  S3.  —  Meite.nius,  liber  Aspidium,  p.  7S. 
— ToRKEV,  Flora  of  New  York,  ii.,  p.  497.  —  Gr.\y,  Manual,  ed.  ii., 
p.  597.  ct  cd.  omn.  scq.  —  Eaiox,  in   Chapman's   Flora   of  the 
Southern  United  States,  p.  594. 
Polypodium  Novcbor accuse,  Lixn.eus,  Sp.  PI.,  p.  1552. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


Dryoptcris  Novcboracensis,  GrvU',  Manual,  ed.  i.,  p.  630.  —  Darungton, 
Flora  Ccstrica,  cd.  iii.,  p.  396. 

Nephrodium  Novcboraccnsc,  Desvaux,  Mdm.  Soc.  Linn.  (Paris),  vi.,  p.  257. 
—  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  iv.,  p.  89.  —  Hooker  &  Ba:.er,  Syn.  Fil., 
p.  267. 

Lastrca  Novcboraccnsis,  Presl,  Tent.  Pterid.,  p.  75.  —  J.  Smith,  Ferns,  Brit- 
ish and  Foreign,  p.  153. 

Nephrodium  thclyptcrioides,  Miciiaux,  Flor.  Bor.  Am.,  ii.,  p.  267. 

Aspidium  tlielypterioidcs,  Swautz,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  57. 

Aspidium  T/ielypleris,  Hooker,  Flor.  Bor.  Am.,  ii.,  p.  260;  not  of  Swartz, 

Var.  SUAVEOLENS:  —  Fronds  narrower,  slightly  more  rigid, 
very  sweet-scented  in  drying ;  the  under  surface  copiously  sprin- 
kled with  minute  glands, 

H.\B.  —  In  moist  thickets  and  wet  grassy  places  from  New  Brunswick, 
Rev.  J.  Fowler;  and  Canada  to  Virginia,  Curtiss.  Also  reported  from 
Ohio,  Kentucky,  North  Carolina,  and  west\vard  to  Michigan  and  Wisconsin ; 
but  I  have  seen  no  specimens  from  those  States.  The  variety  was  discov- 
ered in  Essex  County,  New  York,  and  again  near  Glens  Falls,  by  Mrs.  Lucy 

A.  MiLLIXGTON. 

Description. — The  root-stock  of  this  fern  is  very  slender, 
scarcely  two  lines  thick,  and  creeps  just  beneath  the  surface  of  the 
ground  several  inches  in  advance  of  the  growing  fronds.  The 
newest  portion  is  sometimes  downy  with  fine  yellowish  wool,  and 
bears  a  few  chaffy  scales,  which  soon  disappear.  The  older  part 
of  the  root-stock  is  more  or  less  furrowed,  and  produces  slender 
branching  roots.  A  transverse  section  cut  at  a  distance  from  the 
base  of  the  stalks  is  irregular  in  shape,  and  consists  of  an  outside 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


5» 


layer  of  liard  dark-brown  cells  {sclcrcnchyma  of  Mettenius  and 
Sachs),  and  an  interior  mass  of  soft  white  parenchyma,  through 
which  there  extend  variously  shaped  threads  and  bands  of  fibro- 
vascular  tissue,  and  at  least  one  larger  band  of  sclerenchynia  also. 
A  section  near  the  insertion  of  one  of  the  stalks  will  show  outside 
of  the  cortical  sclcrenchyma  a  smaller  mass  of  parenchyma  trav- 
ersed by  one  or  two  little  fibro-vascular  threads,  and  a  scanty  cov- 
ering of  sclcrenchyma  again  outside  of  all.  Very  few  of  our  ferns 
have  been  carefully  studied  with  reference  to  the  anatomy  of  the 
root-stock,  and  I  may  say  that  in  this  direction  there  lies  a  broad 
and  interesting  field  for  investigation. 

The  stalks  which  are  to  bear  fronds  in  the  year  to  come  form 
little  stems  near  the  growing  extremity  of  the  root-stock.  The 
stalks  which  support  the  fronds  of  the  present  year  are  few  in 
number  (two  to  four),  and  stand  either  close  together,  or  some  lines 
apart,  but  always  at  some  considerable  distance  from  the  end  of 
the  root-stock.  The  stalks  are  commonly  from  four  to  si.x  inches 
high,  slender,  brownish  straw-color ;  and  only  when  very  young 
are  they  furnished  with  a  few  little  chaffy  scales  near  the  base. 

The  fronds  are  from  one  to  two  feet  long,  and  from  three  to 
six  inches  broad.  In  outline  they  are  lanceolate,  tapering  upward 
to  an  acuminate  and  slender  apex,  and  gradually  contracted  from 
the  middle  downwards  to  a  very  narrow  base.  The  pinnae  are 
from  one  and  a  half  to  three  inches  long,  lanceolate,  sometimes 
slightly  narrowed  but  more  often  a  little  enlarged  at  the  base,  pin- 
natifid  almost  to  the  midrib,  and  with  the  apex  slenderly  acumi- 
nate.    Sometimes  the  pinnx  diverge  from  the  rachis  by  an  angle 


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53 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


of  sixty  degrees ;  but  more  frequently  they  spread  out  nearly  at 
right  angles  with  it.  The  lower  pinnae  arc  gradually  more  distant 
than  the  middle  ones,  and  are  shorter  and  more  dcflcxcd  towards 
the  base  of  the  frond,  so  that  the  very  lowest  ones  are  often  not 
more  than  two  lines  long.  The  lobes  or  segments  of  the  pinnas 
are  flat,  slightly  oblique,  oblong,  round:)d-obtuse,  and  entire  or 
slightly  toothed.  The  lowest  segments  of  each  pinna  arise  from 
the  \cry  base  of  its  midrib,  so  that  the  pinnae  are  absolutely 
sessile  on  the  main  rachis.  These  lowest  segments  arc  some- 
times a  little  shorter  than  the  higher  ones  ;  but  in  other  specimens 
they  arc  found  rather  larger  than  th.e  rest,  and  more  decidedly 
toothed. 

The  venation  is  free :  each  lobe  has  a  central  mid-vein,  and 
on  each  side  of  this  about  six  or  seven  pinnately  arranged  vein- 
lets.  These  leave  the  mid-vein  at  an  angle  of  about  forty-five 
degrees,  and  run  straight  to  the  margin  of  the  lobes.  They  are 
normally  simple ;  but  in  fronds  with  enlarged  and  toothed  basal 
lobes  they  are  sometimes  forked,  or  the  lowest  vein  of  several 
lobes  may  be  forked.  The  texture  of  the  fronds  is  thin,  so  tliiit 
they  wither  quickly  when  gathered,  and  die  at  the  first  approach 
of  cold  weather.  The  rachis,  midribs,  veins  and  veinlcts,  espe- 
cially along  the  lower  surface  of  the  frond,  are  minutely  pubescent 
with  straight  whitish  hairs,  and  the  lobes  arc  ciliatc  with  hairs  of 
the  same  kind. 

The  sori  or  fruit-dots  are  much  smaller  than  they  are  in 
some  of  the  other  common  Aspidia.  They  are  seated  one  on  the 
back  of  each  veinlet,  nearer  the  margin  of  the  lobe  than  the  mid- 


Mtil 


I 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


53 


rib,  and  arc  almost  alvays  distinct.  The  fruit,  when  it  is  present 
at  all,  usually  occupies  the  whole  of  the  fruiting  frond,  which,  as 
in  most  ferns,  is  rather  narrower  than  the  stei.le  frond,  and  has 
narrower  divisions.  The  indusia  are  reniform  and  attach'^d  by 
the  sinus,  and  very  delicate.  The  cellules  are  irregular  in  shape, 
and  may  be  called  roundish-polygonal.  The  margin  is  bordered 
with  minute  yellowish  globules,  or  glands  ;  and  sometimes  a  few 
occur  on  the  surface  also.  Besides  the  glands,  the  indusia  often 
bear  a  few  short  and  straight  whitish  hairs.  Schkuhr's  figure, 
quoted  above,  gives  an  excellent  representation  of  the  indusium. 
The  spores  arc  ovoid-rcniform,  very  much  the  shape  of  a  kidney- 
bean,  but  with  a  muricate  surface  and  more  or  less  of  a  semi- 
transparent  border  or  wing  along  the  slightly  hollowed  side. 

The  sweet-scented  variety  has  been  noticed  by  Mrs.  Milling- 
ton  for  several  successive  years.  It  differs  little  from  the  common 
form.  The  specimens  sent  me  are  narrower  and  more  rigid. 
The  glands  with  whi^^h  they  are  sprinkled  on  the  under  surface 
are  nearly  black  in  the  diiod  plant,  and  the  indusium  is  more  per- 
manent. Mrs.  Millington  writes  that  "  a  few  plants  dried  in  the 
open  air  will  perfume  a  room  deliciously  for  a  long  time."  My 
specimens,  gathered  in  1873,  are  still  pleasantly  fragrant. 

This  fern  has  been  confused  at  times  with  Aspidium  ThelyP- 
teris.  In  the  "Flora  Boreali-Amcricana "  Sir  W.  J.  Hooker 
united  the  two ;  and  many  years  later,  in  writing  the  account  of 
this  species  for  the  "Species  Filicum,"  he  appears  to  have  still 
entertained  doubts  as  to  its  distinctness.  But  the  only  specimens 
in  his  herbarium  at  that  time  were  imperfect  fronds  from  Canada, 


i  « 


If  -       ! 


in 

t[  ^^H 

ll 

i 

i 

54 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


and  one   from   Dr.  Torrey  with   the  lower  part  of  the   frond 
missing ! 

Aspiditnn  Thclypteris  is  sometimes  found  with  most  of  the 
veinlcts  simple,  and  the  lower  pinnx  a  little  contracted,  so  that  it 
is  perhaps  well  to  indicate  some  of  the  most  important  distinc- 
tions in  parallel  columns. 


A.  NOVEBORACENSE. 

Stalk  shorter  than  the  frond. 
Frond  with  a  long  and  slender  apex, 
and  much  contracted  at  the  base. 
Pinnae  closely  sessile. 

Lobes  flat. 

Veinlets  mostly  simple. 
Sori  near  the  margin. 

Spores  slightly  wing-margined. 


A.  THELYFIERIS. 

Stalk  often  longer  than  the  frond. 

Frond  short-pointed ;  the  base  but 
little  contracted,  if  at  all. 

Pinnae  with  a  very  short  but  evident 
stalk. 

Fiuiting  lobes  oftenest  slightly  re- 
flexed  over  the  sori. 

Veinlets  commonly  forked. 

Sori  midway  between  mid-vein  and 
margin,  or  nearer  the  mid-vein. 

Spores  wingless. 


The  specimen  of  Polypodium  Noveboraccnse  in  the  Linnaean 
herbarium  lacks  the  lower  part  of  the  frond,  but  has  simple  vein- 
lets,  and  is  slightly  pubescent ;  so  that  there  is  little  doubt  of  its 
being  the  present  species. 

Mr.  Emerton  has  drawn  a  plant  of  ordinary  size :  the  long  creeping 
root-stock  is  very  characteristic.  A  portion  of  a  pinna,  enlarged,  shows  the 
venation  and  the  position  of  the  sori ;  and  the  indusium,  highly  magnified, 
shows  the  marginal  glands  and  the  hairs. 


evm 


/ 


^a^^^ 


fr^. 


muii-': 


1     i 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


55 


PiJVTE  VIII. -Fig.  i. 

CAMPTOSORUS   RHIZOPHYLLUS,  Link. 

Walking- Leaf. 

Camptosorus  RiiizornYLLUs :  —  Root-stock  short,  creeping 
or  ascending ;  stalks  tufted,  slender,  flaccid,  green,  but  becoming 
brown  near  the  base ;  fronds  a  few  inches  to  a  foot  1  mfr,  siib-cori- 
accous,  evergreen,  smooth,  gradually  narrowed  from  a  deeply  cor- 
date and  auricled  base  to  a  long  and  very  slender  prolongation 
decumbent  and  often  rooting  at  the  end ;  vci...-  reticulated  near 
the  midrili  and  having  free  apices  along  the  margin,  ori  elon- 
gated, variously  placed  on  cither  side  of  the  veins,  often  face  to 
lace  in  pairs,  or  extending  around  the  upper  part  of  the  meshes  ; 
indusium  delicate. 

Camptosorus  7-hizopliyllus,  Link,  Hort.  Hcrol.,  ii.,  p.  69 ;  Fil.  Sp.  Hort. 
Hcrol.,  ]).  Sv  —  Pki-si.,  Tent.  Pterid.,  p.  121,  t.  4,  fig.  S.  —  HooKKR, 
Gen.  Fil.,  t.  57,  C;  Fil.  Exot.,  t.  85.  —  Gkav,  Manual.  —  Darling- 
ton, Flora  Ccsir.,  cd.  iii.,  p.  393.  —  Mi:ni;Nius,  Fil.  Hort.  Lips., 
p.  67,  t.  5,  fig.  6. 

Asplcnium  rhizophyllum,  Linn/Kus,  Sp.  PI.,  p.  1536.  —  Swartz,  Syn.  Fil., 
p.  74.  —  VVii.DKNow,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  305.  —  MiciiAux,  FI.  Bor.  Am., 
ii.,  p.  264.  —  HiGixow,  I'l.  Boston. 

Anligramma  r/tizopliyl/a,  J.  Smith,  in  Hook.  Journ.  Bot.,  iv.,  p.  176; 
Ferns,  British  and  Foreign,  p.  226. — Torrey,  F1.  New  York,  ii., 
p.  494,  t.  159  {^Asplcnhini) . 


56 


FERNS  '>J    NORTH  AMERICA. 


fW-'^' 


Scolopendrium  rhizop/iyllum,  Endlicuer.  Gen.  Fl..  Suppl.  i.,   p.   1348. — 
Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  iv.,  p.  4.  —  Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  248 

Hab.  —  On  mossy  rocks,  especially  limestone.  Not  uncommon  from 
Canada  to  Virginia  and  Alabama,  and  westward  to  Wisconsin  and  Kansas. 
It  occurs  in  many  places  in  Western  Nev  England,  but  is  rare  to  the  east. 
It  has  lately  been  found  a  few  miles  from  Boston ;  but  there  is  a  doubt 
whether  the  station  is  truly  natural. 

Description.  —  The  walking-leaf  is  usually  found  in  patches 
of  considerable  extent.  It  seems  to  prefer  mossy  calcareous  rocks, 
and  the  finest  specimens  arc  usually  firmly  rooted  in  the  crevices. 
In  Cheshire,  Connecticut,  it  grows  freely  on  moist  cliffs  of  sand- 
stone bordering  a  deep  ravine ;  and  in  Orange,  in  the  same  State, 
it  is  found  on  scattered  ledges  of  serpentine.  The  root-stock  is 
very  short,  but  creeping :  it  bears  a  few  dark-fuscous  scales,  and 
is  covered  with  the  remains  of  decayed  stalks.  A  few  fronds 
grow  from  the  end  of  the  root-stock,  and  are  supported  on  slender 
herbaceous  stems  a  few  inches  long.  A  transverse  section  of  the 
lower  part  of  the  stalk  is  semicircular,  and  shows  a  very  slender 
triangular  central  thread  of  dark  sclerenchyma,  with  two  some- 
what roundish  fibro-vascular  bundles  close  beneath  or  behind  it. 
A  section  higher  up  shows  that  the  stalk  is  there  narrowly  winged 
on  each  side,  and  the  two  fibro-vascuiar  bundles  have  coalesced 
into  one  of  a  roundish-triangular  shape.  The  frond  is  long  and 
narrow,  and  rarely  rises  erect,  but  usually  is  decumbent  or  reclined 
in  position. 

The  wings  of  the  stalk  widen  out  into  a  wedge-shaped  base, 
which  is  sunken  in   a  sinus  between   two  basal  auricles  of  the 


■I 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


57 


frond.  These  auricles  are  scantily  developed  in  small  fronds ; 
but  in  larger  ones  they  are  more  or  less  prominent,  making  the 
base  of  the  frond  either  cordate  or  hastate.  In  specimens  from 
Cheshire,  Connecticut,  and  in  some  from  Indiana,  the  auricle::  are 
drawn  out  into  slender  points,  in  one  instance  fully  four  inches 
long.  The  fronds  are  deep-green  in  color,  and  sub-coriaceous  in 
texture.  The  fronds  of  mature  plants  are  from  six  to  twelve,  or 
even  fifteen,  inches  long ;  and  their  greatest  width,  measured  just 
above  the  auricles,  is  about  one-twelfth  of  the  length,  or  from  six 
to  fifteen  lines.  The  midrib  is  a  little  paler  than  the  rest  of  the 
frond,  and  is  rather  prominent  on  the  under  surface.  The  margin 
of  the  frond  is  gently  undulating  or  entire,  rarely  incised.^  The 
upper  part  of  the  frond  is  scarcely  wider  than  the  stalk,  and 
commonly  produces  a  proliferous  bud  at  the  apex,  where  it  very 
frequentiv  takes  root,  and  develops  a  new  plant.  In  this  way  a 
single  plant  in  a  favorable  position  will  become  a  whole  colony 
in  a  few  years'  time. 

The  venation  is  peculiar,  and  the  disposition  of  the  sori 
depends  mainly  on  the  peculiarities  of  the  venation.  Dr.  End- 
lichcr's  description  of  them  is  so  clear,  that  it  is  well  to  repeat  it 
here:  "Veins  anastomosing  [i.e.,  reticulating]  in  two  series  of 
hexagonal  areoles  [mcshcsj,  the  angles  of  the  marginal  areoles 
sending  out  free,  simple  or  forked,  veinlcts.  Sori  linear,  solitary 
in  the  costal  areoles  [those  nearest  the  midrib]  and  on  the  mar- 
ginal veinlcts  :  the  indusium  of  the  latter  free  toward  the  margin 


'  See  the  "Flora  of  New  York"  for  some  figures  of  laeiniatcd  ami  forking 


fronds. 


58 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


u'-'^ 


iV 


ii 


ti  ! 


of  the  frond ;  of  the  former,  toward  the  costa.  In  the  areoles  of 
the  second  series  the  sori  are  opposite  :  the  indusium  of  the  lower 
one  free  toward  the  costa;  of  the  other,  in  the  opposite  direction." 
To  this  it  may  be  added,  that  in  some  of  the  areoles  the  two  sori 
meet  and  are  confluent  at  the  outer  angle  of  the  areole ;  and  in 
this  case  the  two  indusia  are  sometimes,  though  not  always, 
united  into  one.  The  indusia  of  the  areoles  next  the  midrib  are 
also  often  bent  at  an  angle,  and  the  two  portions  plainly  united. 
It  was  from  this  condition  of  some  of  the  sori  that  the  genus  was 
named  Camptosorits  (bent  fruit-dot) ;  and  it  is  only  on  this  pecul- 
iarity that  the  genus  can  be  kept  separate. 

The  indusium  is  thin  and  delicate,  composed  of  sinuous- 
margined  cellules,  and  is  more  or  less  wavy  along  the  free  edge. 
The  spores   are  ovoid,  and    have    a   crenated    pellucid  wing-like 


iifi 


Sir  W.  J.  Hooker  referred  the  Camptosorus,  together  with 
the  species  of  Aittignimma,  and  the  very  peculiar  Mexican  fern 
Scliaffiio'ia,  to  the  genus  Scolopcndriuvi ;  making  the  distinctive 
character  of  the  genus  to  rest  on  the  sori  being  "  in  pairs,  oppo- 
site to  each  other,  one  originating  on  the  superior  side  of  a  vein- 
let,  the  other  on  the  inferior  side  of  the  opposite  veinlet  or 
branch."  In  this  he  was  essentially  anticipated  twenty  years  by 
Dr.  Kndiicher;  to  whom,  however,  Schaffncria  was  unknown. 

It  is  by  no  means  impossible  that  future  botanists  will  refer 
all  these  species  to  the  old  Linn;ean  genus  Asplcuinm  ;  for  it  is 
now  pretty  generally  adn".itte(l  that  differences  in  venation  do  not 
constitute  valid  generic  distinctions,  and  a  radicant  bud  on  the 


■I  -f-M 


"k 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


59 


frond  is  common  in  many  undeniably  genuine  Asplet.ta:  and 
since  Diplazium,  with  double  involucres  placed  back  to  back  on 
the  same  vein,  is  inseparable  from  Aspletiium,  it  is  by  no  means 
impossible  that  Scolopendfiwn  and  Camptoscrus  should  be  thought 
to  have  no  better  claim  to  rank  as  genera. 

Probably  the  earliest  notice  of  the  walking-leaf  is  in  Ray's 
"  Historia  Plantarum,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  1927,  published  in  1688.  It  is 
there  called  "  Phyllitis  parva  saxatilis  per  summitates  folii  pro- 
lifera."  Other  early  accounts  may  be  found  in  the  "  Species 
Plantarum  "  of  Linn/EUS  and  of  Willdenow,  and  in  the  second 
edition  of  Gronovius's  "  Flora  Virginica."  In  the  latter  work  it 
may  be  seen  that  Gov.  Golden  long  ago  described  the  auricles 
as  being  "also  often  acuminate." 

A  second  species,  with  membranaceous  fronds  acute  at  the 
base  (C  Sibiricus),  occurs  in  Northern  Asia,  but  is  apparently 
very  rare. 

Plate  VIII.,  Fig.  i. —  Camptosorus  rhizophylltis.  The  specimens  are 
of  the  form  with  acuminate  auricles.  A  portion  of  a  frond  with  rounded 
auricles  is  drawn  about  twice  the  natural  size,  to  show  the  peculiar  arrange- 
ment of  the  veins  and  sori. 


t'  1  I    \ 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


6i 


Plate  VIII.  —  Fig.  2. 

ASPLENIUM   PINNATIFIDUM,  Nuttall. 

Pinnatifid  Spleenwort. 

AsPLENiUM  PINNATIFIDUM :  —  Root-stock  short,  creeping, 
branched;  stalks  numerous,  clustered,  brownish  near  the  base, 
green  higher  up ;  fronds  six  to  nine  inches  high,  herbaceous  or 
sub-coriaceous,  mostly  erect,  lanceolate-acuminate  from  a  broad 
and  sub-hastate  base,  pinnatifid ;  lower  lobes  roundish-ovate  or 
rarely  caudate,  sometimes  distinct,  the  margin  crenated,  the  upper 
ones  gradually  smaller  and  more  and  more  adnate  to  the  winged 
midrib,  the  uppermost  very  short,  and  passing  into  the  sinuous- 
margined  long  acumination  of  the  frond ;  veins  dichotomous  or 
sub-pinnate  and  forking,  free ;  sori  few  on  the  lower  lobes,  soli- 
tary on  the  uppermost,  those  next  the  midrib  occasionally  dipla- 
zioid. 

Asplenium  pinnatifidum,  Nuttall,  Genera  of  N.  Amer.  Plants,  ii.,  p.  251. 
—  KuNZE,  in  Sill.  Journ.,  July,  1848,  p.  85.  —  Gray,  Manual. — 
Eaton,  in  Chapman's  Flora  of  Southern  U.  S.,  p.  592. —  Hooker, 
Icones  Plantarum,  t.  927;  Sp.  Fil.,  ill.,  p.  91.  —  Mettenius,  Fil. 
Hort.  Lips.,  p.  72,  t.  ID,  figs,  i,  2;  Asplenium,  p.  126.  —  Hooker 
&  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  194. 

Asplenium  rhizophyllum,  var.  pinnatijidum,  Muhlenberg,  Catalogus  Plant. 
Am.  Sept.,  cd.  ii.,  p.  102.  —  Barton,  Compendium  Florae  Philad., 
ii.,  p.  210.  —  Eaton,^  Manual  of  Botany,  ed.  iii.,  p.  188,  etc. — 
Torrey,  Compendium,  p.  383. 

'  Prof.  Amos  Eaton,  grandfather  of  the  present  writer.  Eaton's  "Manual 
of  Botany"  went  through  eight  editions  from  1817  to  1841. 


■Hi-  \-^^ 


iliiiii 


?■*':   ■      t! 


■;i  :  '  Saif 


,i ' 


6a 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


Hab.  —  Discovered  by  Thomas  Nuitall  in  crevices  of  rocks  along  the 
Schuylkill  Rive.-,  near  Philadelphia ;  also  found  along  the  VVissahickon 
Creek  in  the  same  vicinity.  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania,  Prof.  Thomas 
C.  Porter.  On  moist  cliffs  of  sandstone  in  the  Cumberland  Mountains, 
East  Tennessee,  Prof.  F.  11.  Bradley.  Hancock  County,  Alabama,  Hon. 
T.  M.  Peters.  Mine-la-Motte,  Southern  Missouri,  on  sandstone  rocks.  Dr. 
Engelmann. 

Description.  —  The  root-stocks  of  this  little  fern  arc  creep- 
ing, branched  and  often  entangled,  and  chaffy  with  narrow  lance- 
acuminatc  dark-fuscous  scales.  The  cellular  structure  of  these 
scales  is  similar  to  that  of  the  scales  of  ^.  cbcneum,  the  cells 
being  oblong-rectangular,  and  arranged  in  straight  longitudinal 
rows.  The  stalks  are  from  two  to  four  inches  long,  and  slightly 
chaffy  when  young:  they  are  brown  and  shining  at  the  base,  1  ut 
green  higher  up,  except  that  a  narrow  line  of  brown  is  continued 
up  the  under  side  of  the  stalk  nearly  or  quite  to  the  base  of  the 
frond.  A  section  made  near  the  lower  extremity  of  the  jtalk  is 
nearly  semicircular,  and  discloses  two  roundish  fibro-vascular 
bundles  side  by  side  near  the  middle,  and  a  minute  thread  of 
sclerenchyma,  or  hard  dark  tissue,  on  the  inner  side  of  each 
bundle.  A  section  just  below  the  frond  shows  the  two  fibro- 
vascular  bundles  united  into  one,  and  the  angles  of  the  stalk 
slightly  extended,  forming  very  narrow  wing-likc  borders.  The 
minute  inner  filaments  of  sclerenchyma  are  never  continued  far 
up  the  stalk,  and  are  sometimes  wanting  altogether. 

The  frond  is  from  three  to  six  inches  long,  and  usually  half 
an  inch  to  an  inch  broad  at  the  base,  from  which  the  general  out- 


1 


1   f  >' 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


«.1 


line  tapers  to  a  long  and  slender  point,  not  so  long  as  the  prolon- 
gation of  the  walking-leaf,  and  very  rarely,  if  ever,  rooting  at  the 
apex.'  The  fronds  arc  mostly  erect,  sub-coriaceous  or  firmly 
membranaceous,  smooth  above,  but  with  a  few  minute  sctulose 
.scales  beneath,  deeply  pinnatifid  in  the  lower  and  middle  portion, 
and  sinuately  lobed  above,  the  long  terminal  portion  undi.late  on 
the  margins.  The  midrib  is  broad  and  well  defined  :  it  is  winged 
throughout  its  length ;  the  wing  narrow  at  the  base  of  the  frond, 
but  constantly  widening  upwards. 

The  lobes  are  irregularly  roundish-ovate,  sinuate,  crenate  or 
slightly  toothed  ;  the  lowest  ones  occasionally  drawn  out  into  an 
acuminate  point  an  inch  long.  Most  of  the  lobes  are  attached 
to  the  wing  of  the  midrib  by  a  broad  base  :  the  lower  ones  some- 
times have  a  short  stalk. 

The  veins  arc  cvcry\\here  free :  in  the  lower  lobes,  if  these 
are  acuminate,  the  veins  arc  pinnatcly  branched  from  a  mid-vein ; 
elsewhere  they  arc  forked  or  dichotomous.  The  sorl  are  mostly 
single,  though  here  and  there  one  will  be  diplazioid,  —  most  com- 
monly the  lowest  one  on  th';  superior  side  of  the  lobe.  The  indu- 
sia  are  very  delicate ;  and  the  free  edge  is  directed  toward  the 
middle  of  the  lobe,  excepting  the  indusia  of  the  sori  nearest  the 
midrib,  and  these  open  toward  the  midrib.  The  sori  are  usually 
very  full  of  sporangia,  and,  when  ripe,  nearly  cover  the  back  of  the 
frond :  even  the  narrow  acumination  bears  a  sorus  at  each  undu- 
lation of  the  margin.  Spores  ovoid-bean-shaped,  with  reticulating 
ridges  and  an  irregular  winged  border. 

'  I  lind  one  or  two  instances  of  a  slight  enlargement  of  the  ape.\,  as  if 
there  were  an  attempt  to  form  a  proliferous  bud. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


This  is  now  admitted  by  all  pteridologists  to  be  a  distinct 
species ;  though  it  was  formerly  confounded  with  the  Campiosorur, 
from  which  it  is  clearly  distinguished  by  the  free  veins,  the  mostly 
single  indusia,  and  the  usual  absence  of  a  proliferous  bud  at  the 
iipex  of  the  frond.  Some  of  the  less  compound  and  more  attenu- 
ated forms  of  yl.  motttanum  come  much  nearer  to  it ;  but  in  its 
simplest  form  this  other  species  always  has  the  fronds  fairly  pin- 
nate, and  its  more  compound  forms  resemble  the  A .  pinnatifidum 
very  little. 

I  take  occasion  to  express  my  thanks  to  Hon.  Thomas  M. 
Peters  of  Moulton,  Alabama,  who  has  sent  me  abundant  and  fine 
specimens  of  this  fern  and  of  other  rare  species  which  are  found 
in  the  northern  part  of  Alabama. 

In  Plate  VIII.,  Fig.  2,  Mr.  Emerton  has  represented  a  portion  of  one 
of  the  Alabama  plants,  together  with  a  part  of  a  frond  moderately  enlarged, 
to  show  the  venation  and  son. 


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FERNS  Ol"  NORIII  AMERICA. 


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VlATF.    IX.  —  Fifl.   I. 

NOTHOLyENA   FENDLERI,  Kunze. 
Fendler's  Notholaena. 

NoTiioLyENA  FiiNDLiiRi :  —  Root-stock  sliort,  creeping  or 
assurgent,  thickly  covered  with  narrow  light-brown  chaffy  scales ; 
stalks  numerous,  tufted,  wiry,  dark-brown  and  polished ;  fronds 
two  to  four  inches  long,  broadly  deltoid-ovate,  four  or  (ivc  times 
pinnate,  the  rachis  and  all  its  divisions  flexuous  and  zigzag,  diva- 
ricate and  often  entangled,  brown  and  shining ;  primary,  second- 
ary, and  tertiary  pinn.-e  alternate;  ultimate  pinnules  sometimes 
opposite,  one  or  two  lines  long,  obovatc-oval  and  entire,  or  two- 
to  three-  lobed,  the  upper  surface  scantily  and  the  under  surface 
abundantly  whitened  with  a  waxy  powder ;  sporangia  seated  on 
the  upper  portions  of  the  veins,  bursting  through  the  ceraceous 
coating. 

Notholana  Fcndlcri,  Kunzk,  Die  Farrnkrauter,  il.,  p.  87,  t.  136.  —  Hooker, 
Sp.  Fil.,  v.,  p.  113.  —  PoKTEK,  Syn.  Fl.  Colorado,  p.  153.  —  Eaton, 
Ferns  of  the  South-West,  incd. 

Notholcena  dcalbata,  Torkky,  I'acif.  R.  Rep.,  iv.,  p.  160,  not  of  Kiinzc, 

Cincinalis  Fcndlcri,  Fle,  Gen,  Fil.,  p.  160. 

Gyninogramvie  Fcndlcri,  Mettenius,  Chellanthes,  p.  7. 

Hau.  —  Clefts  of  exposed  rocks,  from  the  mountains  of  Colorado  to 
Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona,  many  collectors. 


'!'*;!  !;'! 


66 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


Description. — The  rooL-stock  is  rather  stout,  not  more  than 
one  or  two  inches  long,  and  is  heavily  clothed  with  narrow  I  right- 
brown  scales.  Tho  remains  of  old  stalks  still  adhering  to  it  con- 
siderably increase  its  apparent  size.  The  stalks  are  commonly 
about  four  inches  long,  s'^raight  or  slightly  curved,  wiry,  dark- 
brown  or  almost  black,  and  polished,  though  not  so  shining  as  the 
stalks  of  most  species  of  Adiantnm.  The  fronds  arc  about  as 
long  as  the  stalk,  and  nearly  as  broad  as  they  arc  long  ;  so  that  the 
generil  outline  is  broadly  triangular.  They  are  pinnately  decom- 
pound to  the  fourth  and  even  to  the  fifth  degree  of  sub-division, 
and  bear  at  the  ends  of  the  ultimate  branchlets  very  minute 
obovate  or  often  two-  or  three-  lobed  pinnules,  having  the  upper 
surface  of  a  pale  bluish-green,  and  the  under  surface  covered  with 
a  dense  white  powder.  The  main  rachis  and  its  primary  and 
secondary  branches  are  singularly  flexuous,  being  bent  at  an 
obtuse  angle  alternately  to  right  and  left,  and  bearing  a  branch  or 
branchlet  on  the  outer  or  convex  side  of  each  angle.  From  this 
habit  it  results  that  the  branches  arc  never  opposite  or  in  pairs, 
but  almost  uniformly  alternate.  It  sometimes  happens  that  the 
branchlet  is  nearly  as  large  as  the  branch  from  which  it  springs ; 
and  then  the  method  of  division  is  dichotomous,  or  forking,  rather 
than  pinnate.  The  lowest  pinna  (for  there  is  but  one  lowest,  not 
a  pair)  and  tlie  next  to  the  lowest  have  not  infrequently  two,  three, 
or  even  four  branchlets  arising  from  the  upper  side  before  any  are 
developed  from  the  lower.  This  may  perhaps  arise  from  suppres- 
sion of  the  branchlets  of  the  inferior  side,  or  from  a  twisting  of 
the  seco.idary  midrib.     It  is  most  noticeable  in  the  figures  given 


21' 


iill 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERfCA. 


67 


by  Kunze,  and  in  specimens  collected  in  Arizona  by  Dr.  Edward 
Palmer.  These  specimens  arc  exaggerated  examples  of  what  Dr. 
M'lde  has  called  anadromy ;'^  while  the  plant  from  which  Mr. 
Emerton  has  taken  his  drawing  has  the  first  branch  of  the  lowest 
pinna  placed  on  the  inferior  side,  and  is  therefore  catadromous. 
All  the  branches  and  branchlets  are  dark  brown  and  smooth,  like 
the  stalk ;  and  they  are  so  much  refracted  and  divaricating,  that 
the  several  fronds  of  one  plant  are  almost  always  much  entangled, 
so  that  they  are  difficult  to  separate  without  injury. 

The  sporangia  are  comparatively  few :  they  are  placed  on  the 
upper  part  of  the  free  veinlets,  and  appear  as  a  row  or  narrow 
band  of  dark-brown  particles  breaking  through  the  white  powdery 
mas=;.  This  powdery  mass  is  found  in  ferns  of  several  differ- 
ent genera,  —  Notholcena,  Chcilant/ics,  and  Gymnogramme.  It  is 
either  white,  creamy,  pale  yellow  or  deep  yellow,  the  color  varying 
even  in  fronds  of  the  same  species.  In  one  Notholccna  from 
Natal  the  powder  is  even  pinkish  in  color.  The  powdery  species 
of  each  of  these  genera  have  been  separated  by  various  authors 
into  special  genera,  named  respectively  Cincinalis,  dleitritopteris, 
and  Ceropteris.     But  these  genera  have  been  rejected  by  the  more 


;feli 


'  Mildc,  Fil.  Europac  ct  Atlantidis,  p.  8:  "Segments  of  the  second  degree, 
especially  at  the  base  of  the  lamina,  arc  commonly  arranged  according  to  a  most 
distinct  order,  which  arrangement  is  not  rarely  most  useful  in  safely  distinguishing 
related  species.  This  arrangement  is  cither  aitadrovious  or  catadromous.  Those 
segments  of  the  second  degree  are  called  aiiadromous  of  -.vhich  the  first  cue  is 
placed  on  the  superior  side  of  the  segment  of  the  first  degree  [primary  pinna] :  there- 
fore those  are  catadromous  of  which  the  first  one  is  observed  on  the  lower  side." 


68 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


mh   -t 


judicious  systematists,  as  not  resting  on  a  character  of  sufficient 
importance.  The  learned  Dr.  Fee,  in  speaking  of  the  colored 
powder,  says,  "  L'exsudation  jaune,  blanche  ou  rose  qui  couvre  la 
lame  inferieure  de  toutes  ces  plantes,  est  de  nature  ceracee,  et  cette 
sorte  de  cire  vdgetale  est  soluble  dans  I'alcool  et  I'ether.  Elle  est 
produite  par  des  glandes  en  massue,  ct  presente  sous  le  micro- 
scope I'aspect  de  petits  filaments  d'une  tcnuite  extreme." 

The  genus  Notholcena  is  closely  related  to  both  ChciLvithes 
and  Gymnogramme.  It  comprises  scaly,  woolly,  powdery,  and 
naked-leaved  species,  just  as  C/ieilaut/ies  does,  and  is  distin- 
guished from  that  genus  only  by  the  absence  of  a  proper  involu- 
cre. Even  in  this  character  some  of  the  species  are  ambiguous ; 
and  it  must  be  observed  that  the  careful  Mettcnius  rejected  the 
genus,  referring  some  of  the  species  to  Cheilantlics,  and  some  to 
Gymnogramme.  Keyserling  {Adiantum,  p.  lo)  makes  Notholccna 
a  sub-genus  of  Cheilantlics,  with  the  character  "  rhachis  teres." 
Hooker  and  Baker  keep  the  genus  distinct,  and  it  is  perhaps  most 
convenient  to  do  so.  Very  few  genera  of  ferns  can  be  so  abso- 
lutely defined  as  to  leave  no  species  of  doubtful  affinities  or 
ambiguous  position.  The  name  of  this  genus  is  variously  writ- 
ten N^ot/iolccna,  Notochlcena,  and  NothocJilcena.  I  have  retained 
Robert  Brown's  original  orthography. 


'is ' 

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Plate  IX.,  Fig.  i.  —  Nolliolccna  Fcndlcri,  drawn  from  very  fine  and 
unusually  large  specimens  collected  in  Fremont  County,  Colorado,  by  Mr. 
T.  S.  Brandegek.  The  details  show  small  portions  of  the  frond  consider- 
ably enlarged,  the  ceraceous  mass  abundant  on  the  lower  surface,  and  spar- 
ingly present  on  the  upper. 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


69 


Plate  IX.  —  Fig.  2. 

NOTIIOL^NA   DEALBATA,  Kunze. 
Whitened  Notholaena. 

NoTHOL^NA  DEALBATA :  —  Root-stock  vcry  short,  chaffy  with 
narrow  scales  ;  stalks  clustered,  wiry,  very  slender,  dark-brown  or 
nearly  black  and  shining,  one  to  three  inches  long ;  fronds  rather 
shorter  than  the  stalks,  triangular-ovate  in  outline,  delicately  three 
to  four  times  pinnate;  the  rachises  and  branchlets  capillary,  and 
in  color  like  the  stalks ;  pinnae  and  pinnules  mostly  opposite  in 
pairs,  the  ultimate  segments  oval  or  obovate  and  entire,  distinct 
or  united  by  a  narrow  wing,  scarcely  one  line  long,  glaucous- 
green  above,  white-farinose  beneath,  often  with  the  margins  much 
rolled  under;  sporangia  seated  on  the  free  veinlcts. 

Notholcena  dealbata,  Kunze,  in  Silliman's  Journal,  July,  1858,  p.  82;    Die 

Farrnkriiutcr,  ii.,  p.  57,  t.  124,  fig.  i.  —  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  v.,  p.  1 13. 

—  Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fi!.,  p.  374.  —  Eaton,  Ferns  of  the 

South-West,  incd. 
Notholccna  piilchclla,  Kunze,  in  "  Bot.  Zcit.,  !.,  1843,  Sp.  633;"  Linna:a, 

xvii.,  p.  567. 
Cheilanthcs  dealbata,   Pursii,  F1.  Am.  Sept.,  ii.,  p.  671.  —  Nuttall,  Gen. 

N.  Am.  Plants,  ii.,  p.  253. 
Cincinalis  dealbata,  Fee,  Gen.  Fil.,  p.  160. 
Gymnogramtnc  dealbata,  Mettenius,  Cheilanthes,  p.  6. 

Had.  —  "  In  the  crevices  of  rocks  on  the  banks  of  the  Missouri  River, 


II 


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FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


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about  fifty  miles  above  its  coiilluence,"  Puusii,  Nuitall.  "  Dry  calcareous 
rocks,  on  their  perpendicular  faces,  and  chiefly  where  sheltered  by  the  over- 
hanging projections ;  rather  common  in  Middle  and  Southern  Kansas," 
E.  Hall,  Parry.    Texas,  Herb.  Durand.     New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  Parry, 

ROTHROCK,  Mrs.  SUMNKR. 

Description.  —  This  little  fern  is  in  many  respects  like  the 
species  last  described.  It  has  the  same  dense  white  ceraceous  or 
farinose  coating  on  the  under  surface  of  the  pinnules  :  the  frond 
is  decompound,  the  pinnules  equally  minute,  and  very  similar  in 
shape.  The  stalks  and  rachises  are  perhaps  more  nearly  black, 
and  have  a  somewhat  higher  polish.  The  most  evident  distinc- 
tions are,  however,  (i)  the  smaller  size  and  greater  delicacy  of  the 
present  species,  and  (2)  the  fact  that  in  this  fern  the  pinnae  and 
pinnules  of  every  degree  are  opposite  in  pairs,  or  nearly  opposite. 

The  ultimate  pinnules  are  more  generally  entire  than  in  the 
larger  species,  and  have  a  stronger  tendency  to  become  revolute, 
or  strongly  rolled  under  from  both  margins. 

The  specimens  from  Missouri  and  Kansas  are  very  delicate, 
the  whole  plant  not  more  than  four  inches  high,  and  the  nearly 
black  branchlets  almost  as  fine  as  horse-hair.  The  specimens 
from  Arizona  collected  by  Dr.  Parry  are  equally  delicate ;  but 
those  from  the  Sonoita  Valley  in  Arizona,  collected  by  Dr.  Roth- 
rock,  and  from  Camp  Bowie  in  South-western  New  Mexico,  col- 
lected by  Mrs.  Sumner,  are  considerably  larger,  and  with  heavier 
stalks  and  rachises. 

In  the  "Species  Filicum "  Sir  William  Hooker  intimated 
that  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  this  plant  is  to  be  satisfactorily  dis- 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


71 


tinguished  from  N.  nivea,  a  native  of  Tropical  America ;  but  the 
latter  species  is  much  coarser  in  every  way,  has  longer  and  less 
compound  fronds,  far  heavier  stalks  qnd  rachiscs,  and  larger  ulti- 
mate pinnules. 

Plate  IX.,  Fig.  2.  —  Notholccna  dcalbaia,  drawn  from  Mrs.  Sumner's 
specimen,  showing  the  under  surface  only. 


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FRRNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


73 


Plate  X. 

ASPIDIUM    NEVADENSE  (n.  sp.). 
Sierra  Shield-Fern. 

AspiDiUM  Nevadense  :  —  Root-stock  rather  short,  creeping, 
densely  covered  with  the  persistent  bases  of  former  stalks ;  fronds 
standing  in  a  crown,  one  and  a  half  to  three  feet  high,  thin- 
membranaceous,  lanceolate  in  outline,  pinnate ;  pinnae  sessile, 
linear-lanceolate  from  a  broad  base,  deeply  pinnatifid,  the  lower 
pairs  distant,  and  gradually  reduced  to  mere  auricles ;  lobes 
crowded,  oblong,  entire  or  sparingly  toothed,  slightly  hairy  on  the 
veins  beneath,  and  sprinkled  with  minute  resinous  particles ; 
veins  about  seven  pairs  to  a  lobe,  simple,  or  a  few  of  the  lower 
ones  forked ;  sori  close  to  the  margin  ;  indusium  minute,  reni- 
form,  furnished  with  a  few  dark-colored  marginal  glands,  and 
bearing  several  long  straight  jointed  hairs  on  the  upper  surface. 

Aspidiiim  Ncvadcnsc,  Eaton,  Ferns  of  the  Soutli-Wcst,  ined. 

Had.  —  In  moist  meadows  and  along  creeks  in  the  Sierra  Nevada  of 
Northern  California,  especially  in  a  meadow  containing  also  the  Darling- 
tonia,  near  Quincy,  Plumas  County,  Mrs.  R.  M.  Austin  and  Mrs.  Pulsifer 
Ames;  also  in  Berry  Creek  Canon,  Butte  County,  Mrs.  Ames. 

DESCRirTiON.  —  Except  in  the  nature  of  the  root-stock,  and 
the  consequent  position  of  the  fronds,  standing  in  a  crown,  this 
fern  has  a  very  close  resemblance  to  the  New- York  shield-fern. 


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74 


FERNS  OP  NORTH  AMKRICA. 


The  fronds  arc  similarly  short-stcmmcil ;  they  arc  similarly  lance- 
olate ill  outline,  with  an  acuminate  apex  and  a  gradually  narrowed 
base;  the  texture  is  much  the  same;  the  pinnie  and  lobes  very 
like  those  of  the  other  species ;  and  even  in  the  disposition  of 
the  veinlets,  and  the  character  of  the  indusium,  there  is  but 
very  little  difference.  But  while  As/)i(/ium  Novcbomccnsc  has  a 
long  and  slender  cord-like  rhi/.oma,  which  creeps  far  in  advance 
of  the  position  of  the  fronds,  the  present  species  has  a  short  and 
somewhat  stouter  rhizoma,  covered  by  the  imbricated  or  over- 
lapping bases  of  former  stems ;  and  the  fronds,  several  in  number, 
arc  produced  apparently  from  the  advancing  end  of  the  rhizoma, 
and  stand  together  in  a  crown,  or  circle,  just  as  in  the  common 
y4 .  spimilosum  and  its  allies.  A  comparison  of  Mr.  Emerton's 
drawings  in  Plates  VII.  and  X.  will  show  both  the  great  resem- 
blance of  the  two  ferns,  and  their  essential  distinction.  The  lobes 
of  the  pinnae  in  A.  Ncvadcnse  are  a  little  more  apt  to  be  crcnated, 
or  even  slightly  toothed,  than  those  of  the  other  species.  The 
pubescence  on  the  under  side  of  the  veins  is  scantier  in  this 
species,  and  the  lobes  are  not  at  all  ciliated.  Another  constant 
character  seems  to  be,  that  the  under  surface  of  the  frond  is  copi- 
ously dotted  with  minute  shining  resinous  globules.  The  lower 
part  of  the  stalk  bears  a  few  chaffy  scales,  and  similar  scales  are 
found  on  the  root-stock. 

Mrs.  Austin,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  a  full  scries  of  fine 
specimens  of  the  ferns  of  Plumas  County,  Criiifornia,  has  noticed 
in  this  fern  a  sort  of  sleeping  and  waking,  .'■'he  s.iys,  "The  new 
Aspidinm  Xcvadense  has  one  peculiarity  :>l)out  the  fruiting  fronds 


FERNS  OF   NORTH    AMKRICA. 


75 


which  I  have  noticed  in  no  other  fern ;  that  is,  the  divisions  of 
the  pinnaj  are  closed  or  folded  together  early  in  the  day.  I 
noticed  this  last  fall.  When  I  went  early  (while  it  was  yet  cool)  in 
the  mornin{j  for  specimens  for  the  press,  I  would  not  gather  them, 
as  I  did  not  think  they  would  make  nice  specimens,  but  went 
farther  up  the  creek,  collecting  other  plants,  and  did  not  return 
till  two  or  three  o'clock,  when  I  found  the  pinnae  all  open,  and  the 
fronds  fit  to  press."  Some  later  observations  confirmed  her  in 
the  opinion  that  this  fern  at  least  has  its  daily  periods  of  contrac- 
tion and  expansion  ;  but  whether  the  change  is  caused  by  alterna- 
tions of  light  and  darkness,  dampness  and  dryness,  or  heat  and 
cold,  is  yet  undetermined. 

This  fern  is  more  or  less  closely  related  to  that  group  of 
Tropical-American  species  which  clusters  about  Aspidium  con- 
tcrminum  ;  but  that  species  has  an  erect,  not  a  creeping,  rhizoma, 
and  a  heavier  and  more  rigid  frond.  But  our  plant  clearly 
belongs  to  the  same  section  of  the  genus,  and  would,  accordingly, 
be  a  Nepiitodium,  §  Lastrca,  of  Baker,  though,  as  well  as  can  be 
seen  from  the  withered  indusium,  scarcely  an  OocJihimys  of  Fee. 

The  same  name,  Aspidium  Ncvadcnse,  was  given  by  Bois- 
sier  to  a  Spanish  fern;  but,  as  that  has  proved  to  be  only  an 
already  well-known  species,  there  is  no  impropriety  in  conferring 
the  name  on  a  fern  from  the  Sierra  Nevada  of  our  own  country. 

Plate  X.  —  Aspidium  A'tvadcnsc.  An  entire  plant,  reduced  to  about 
one-third  or  one-fourth  of  the  natural  size,  and  colored,  occupies  the  middle 
of  the  plate.  Two  fronds,  and  tiieir  root-stock,  of  natural  size,  arc  drawn 
in  outline.  At  the  left  is  a  single  segment  in  fruit,  magnified  about  ten 
diameters ;  and  at  the  right  an  indusium,  highly  magnified. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA.  77 


Plate  XI.  —  Fig.  i. 

PELL^A   DENSA,  Hooklr. 
Oregon  Cliff-Brake. 

Pell/EA  DENSA  :  —  Root-stocks  rather  slender,  entangled, 
chaffy  with  very  dark  narrow  scales  ;  stalks  densely  tufted,  three 
to  nine  inches  long,  wiry  and  slender,  dark  chestnut-brown,  dull 
or  moderately  polished  ;  fronds  ovate  or  triangular-oblong  in  out- 
line, one  and  a  half  to  two  and  a  half  inches  long,  closely  tripin- 
nate ;  segments  linear,  three  to  six  lines  long,  nearly  sessile, 
sharp-pointed  or  mucronate,  the  lower  ones  distinct,  the  upper 
ones  often  confluent  by  a  narrowly  winged  rachis ;  fertile  fronds 
with  the  segments  entire,  having  the  margin  narrowly  recurved, 
and  provided  with  a  distinct  delicate  involucre ;  sterile  fronds 
very  rare,  the  segments  broader  and  sharply  serrated,  especially 
towards  their  apices. 

Pellaa  densa.  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  ii.,  p.  150,  t.  125,  B.  —  Hooker  &  Baker, 

Syn.  Fil.,  p.  149. 
Onychium  dcnsum,  Bkackenridge,  Filices  of  the  U.  S.  Expl.  Exped.,  p.  1 20, 

t.  13,  f.  2. — ToKREY,  Pacif.  R.  Rep.,  iv.,  p.  160. 

Had.  —  Clefts  of  rocks.  Oregon,  on  the  banks  of  Rogue  River, 
Brackenridge  ;  near  Fort  Orford,  Gen.  A.  V.  Kautz,  U.S.A.  Not  rare  in 
the  Sierra  of  California,  at  elevations  of  six  thousand  to  eight  thousand 
feet,  from  the  Castle  Mountains  to  the  Yosemite,  Brewer,  Bolander,  Mrs. 
Austin,  S:c.  Also  collected  at  Jackson's  Lake,  in  Wyoming  Territory,  by 
Haydcn's  Expedition. 


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FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


Description.  —  The  habit  of  this  fern  is  very  dense,  as  the 
specific  name  happily  assigned  to  it  by  Brackenridge  implies.  It 
grows  in  dense  tufts  among  rocks ;  and  the  pinnae  and  segments 
are  so-  crowded  as  to  overlap  each  other,  and  render  it  difficult  to 
see  exactly  what  is  the  method  of  branching.  The  stalks  are 
usually  less  than  a  span  long,  rigid,  dark-brown,  and  rather  brittle. 
The  fronds  are  often  only  an  inch  long,  and  rarely  as  long  as  two 
and  a  half  inches.  The  primary  pinnae  are  either  alternate  or 
opposite, —  more  frequently  the  former.  The  lowest  ones  are 
considerabl)-  laigc.  *  and  in  the  larger  specimens  are  fairly  bipin- 
nate.     The  see  chises,  and,  indeed,  the  upper  part  of  the 

primary  rachis,  are  green  and  herbaceous ;  as  are  also  the  seg- 
ments, which  r .;-  narrowly  oblong-linear,  acute  or  mucronate  at 
the  apex,  having  the  luges  rerurv.'d,  and  bearing  a  very  delicate 
erosely-toothed  proper  involucre.  The  segments,  for  this  reason, 
are  somewhat  pod-like.  The  veins  are  mostly  simple,  though 
occasionally  one  is  forked.  They  seem  to  be  entirely  free ; 
although  from  Fig.  i,  a,  of  the  illustration  given  by  Bracken- 
ridge, one  would  suppose  they  were  reticulated. 

Bracken  ridge's  specimens  were  very  old,  and  somewhat  shriv- 
eled ;  and  the  anastomosing  lines  which  his  artist  represented  are 
merely  the  depressions  of  a  contracted  surface.  Sir  W.  J.  Hooker 
has  noticed  on  the  upper  surface  of  the  pinnules,  when  highly 
magnified,  "  an  appearance  of  white,  close-pressed,  parallel  hairs 
lying  in  the  direction  of  the  margins,  tapering  at  each  end,  like 
the  hairs  of  some  malpighiaccous  plant.  A  high  magnifying 
power  shows  that  these  are  not  separable  from  the  cuticle,  but  are 
rather  lodged  in  it.     Can  they  be  looked  upon  as  raphides  ?  " 


lil^ 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


79 


The  cellules  of  the  upper  surface  are  oblong-linear,  with 
sinuous  outlines,  much  as  shown  in  the  figure  in  "  Species  Fili- 
cum  ;  "  but  I  have  failed  to  discover  any  thing  in  the  least  degree 
resembling  raphides. 

The  sterile  fronds  are  very  rarely  found  ;  but,  when  they  do 
occur,  their  segments  have  serrated  margins,  —  an  uncommon 
thing  in  this  genus. 

Plate  XL,  Fig.  i.  —  Pellaa  densa.  A  plant  of  the  natural  size,  show- 
ing one  frond  contracted  from  drought,  as  is  often  the  case,  and  one  care- 
fully spread  out,  so  as  to  display  its  true  form.  The  smaller  drawing  shows 
three  fruiting  segments  enlarged. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


8l 


Plate  XI.  —  Fic.  2. 


PELL^A   PULCHELLA.  Fee. 
Pretty  Cliff- Brake. 

Pell/EA  PULCHELLA :  —  Root-stock  very  short,  rather  stout, 
nearly  erect;  stalks  numerous,  clustered,  three  to  eight  inches 
long,  chaffy  at  the  base  with  narrow  crisped  scales,  nearly  black, 
and  polished,  like  the  rachis  and  branchlets  ;  frond  as  long  as  the 
stalk  or  longer,  deltoid-ovate,  quadripinnate  at  the  base,  becoming 
gradually  simpler  above  ;  ultimate  pinnules  numerous,  very  small, 
one  to  three  lines  long,  distinctly  stalked,  oval  or  cordate-ovate, 
obtuse,  sub-coriaceous,  smooth,  the  edges  often  much  rolled  in ; 
involucre  herbaceous. 

Pellcea  ptiUhclla,  Vv.v.,  Gen.  Inl.,  p.  120;  Foiigeres  Mexicaines,  Catal.,  p.  8. 
—  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  ii.,  p.  150.  —  Eaton,  in  Botany  of  Mexican 
Boundary,  p.  233.  —  Hooker  &  Baker,  Svn.  Fil.,  p.  150.  —  Four- 
NiER,  Mcx.  PI.  Enum.,  p.  119. 

Allosorus  pulchdlus,  Martens  &  Galeotti,  Syn.  Fil.  Mex.,  p.  47,  t.  10,  f.  i. 

AUosonis  formosus,  Liebmann,  Mexicos  Bregner,  p.  68. 

Cincinalis  pulchella,  J.  Smith,  Ferns,  British  and  Foreign,  p.  178. 

Pellcea  microphylla,  Meitenius,  Kuhn,  in  Linnaea,  xxxvi.,  p.  86. 

Pcllaa  pulchella,  var.  microphylla,  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  ed.  ii.,  p.  477. 

Hab.  —  Western  Texas  and  New  Mexico,  Wright,  Bigelow,  Schott; 
Mexico  to  Peru. 

Description.  —  This  fern  probably  grows  in  the  clefts  of 


■■m 
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82 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


it 


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exposed  rotks  ;  but  noiic  of  the  collectors  seems  to  have  made 
a  note  of  the  kind  of  place  where  he  found  it.  The  fronds  are 
thickly  clustered  on  a  short  and  nearly  erect  root-stock,  which  is 
hidden  by  the  broken  remains  of  old  stalks.  The  stalks  are  wiry, 
brittle,  shining,  and  of  so  dark  a  brown  as  to  appear  almost  black. 
The  fronds  are  broadly  triangular-ovate  in  outline,  and  in  the 
Texan  and  New-Mexican  plant  are  about  four  inches  long,  and  at 
the  base  nearly  as  broad ;  so  that,  while  they  are  fully  thrice  and 
even  four  times  pinnate  at  the  base,  they  rapidly  become  simpler 
above,  and  are  only  bipinnate  near  the  top,  and  simply  pinnate  at 
the  very  apex.  The  primary  pinnae  and  the  larger  secondary 
pinnae  are  mostly  alternate;  and  the  rachiscs,  which  are  dark  and 
polished  like  the  stalk,  arc  slightly  bent  from  side  to  side  in  a 
zigzag  manner,  though  much  less  markedly  so  than  in  Notholana 
Fcndleyi,  figured  in  the  last  part  of  this  work.  The  pinnae  all 
have  rather  long  stalks,  and  even  the  ultimate  pinnules  are  dis- 
tinctly stalked.  These  pinnules  arc  mostly  roundish-ovate,  cor- 
date, and  very  obtuse.  Their  length  is  not  more  than  two  lines 
in  our  plant ;  though  in  specimens  from  Chiapas  collected  by  Dr. 
Ghiesbrcght  (No.  227),  and  in  Bourgcau's  specimens  from  Esca- 
mcla,  Mexico,  some  of  them  measure  two  and  a  half  lines.  They 
are  sub-coriaceous  in  texture,  smooth,  and  almost  always  strongly 
revolute,  or  else  with  the  sides  folded  together  so  as  to  hide  the 
fruit ;  and  the  texture  of  the  pinnule  is  somewhat  thinner  along 
the  margin,  so  that  there  may  be  said  to  be  an  herbaceous  invo- 
lucre. The  sporangia  form  a  narrow  band  not  remote  from  the 
margin  of  the  pinnules. 


;  ll'' 


FKRNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


83 


Among  the  ferns  named  by  Mcttcnius,  and  published  after 
his  decease  by  Kuhn,  is  Pcllcca  microphylla ;  which  name  was 
bestowed  'fon  the  Northern  specimens  of  the  species  above 
described  to  distinguish  them  from  the  Mexican  form,  the  distinc- 
tion being,  according  to  Kuhn,  that  the  Northern  plant  has  "  fur- 
rowed rachises,  and  the  ultimate  pinnules  smaller,  and  cordate." 
The  difference  in  size  and  form  of  the  pinnules  is  too  slight  to  be 
noticed:  but  our  specimens  certainly  have  the  rachises  slightly 
sulcate,  or  furrowed ;  and  no  furrowing  is  visible  on  the  Chiapas 
specimens,  which  are,  moreover,  considerably  taller  and  heavier 
than  our  form.  But  I  am  as  yet  unwilling  to  admit  that  the  dif- 
ference in  size,  &c.,  and  in  the  terete  or  the  furrowed  rachises, 
amounts  to  a  valid  specific  distinction. 

Fournier,  in  the  admirable  report  on  the  Cryptogamia  of 
Mexico,  has  expressed  the  strange  opinion,  that  Pcllcca  androme- 
dafolia  (Fee)  should  be  united  with  P.  pitlchclla ;  and  some  of 
the  specimens  which  he  refers  to  the  latter  species  surely  belong 
to  the  other  one. 

As  the  synonymy  shows,  Mr.  John  Smith,  the  veteran  ex- 
curator  of  the  Kew  Gardens,  has  considered  this  fern  a  Cinciiialis, 
wrongly  supposing  the  pinnules  to  be  farinose. 

Plate  XL,  Fig.  2.  —  A  single  frond  of  Pcllcca  pulchella,  showing  the 
upper  surface  with  the  root-stock  antl  the  remains  of  old  stalks.  Below  it 
arc  seen  three  segments  or  pinnules  slightly  magnified. 


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FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


Plate  XII.  —  Fig.  i. 


85 


CHEILANTHES  VISCIDA,  Davenport. 
Sticky  Lip- Fern. 

Cheilanthes  VISCIDA :  —  Stalks  tufted,  three  to  five  inches 
high,  wiry,  dark-brown  or  blackish  and  shining,  chaffy  at  the  base 
with  narrow  crisped  bright-ferruginous  scales  ;  fronds  herbaceous, 
minutely  glandular  and  everywhere  viscid,  three  to  five  inches 
long,  narrowly  oblong  in  outline,  pinnate,  with  four  to  six  rather 
distant  pairs  of  nearly  sessile  deltoid  bipinnatifid  pinnae  five  to 
six  lines  wide  and  long ;  segments  toothed ;  the  minute  herba- 
ceous teeth  recurved,  and  each  covering  one  to  three  sporangia. 

Cheilanthes  viscida,  George  E.  Davenport,  in  Bulletin  of  the  Torrey  Botan- 
ical Club,  vi.,  p.  191  (December,  1877).  —  Eaton,  Ferns  of  the 
South-West,  ined. 

Had.  —  At  the  White-water  Canon  in  the  Colorado  Desert,  Arizona, 
and  at  Dovvnieville  Buttes,  California,  Lemmon  ;  and  on  the  eastern  slope 
of  the  Sierra,  near  San  Gorgorio  Pass,  California,  Parry,  Lemmon. 

Description. — The  root-stock  I  have  not  seen  ;  but,  as  the 
fronds  seem  to  be  tufted,  it  is  probably  very  short,  and  heavily 
covered  with  the  same  narrow  crisped  light-brown  scales  which 
adhere  to  the  base  of  the  stalk.  The  stalks  arc  very  slender  and 
fragile,  terete,  very  minutely  striated,  very  dark-brown,  and  moder- 
ately polished.  The  rachis  and  the  upper  part  of  the  stalks  arc 
slightly  roughened,  and  bear  minute  sessile  or  short-stalked  viscid 


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86 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


glands,  which  also  abound  on  both  surfaces  of  the  pinna;,  render- 
ing them  very  viscid.  There  are  about  six  pairs  of  pinnas ;  and 
these,  especially  the  lower  pairs,  are  distant  from  each  other. 
The  pinnae  are  broadly  triangular  in  outline,  and  rather  loss  than 
half  an  inch  long  and  broad.  They  have  a  short  dark-brown 
viscid-puberulent  secondary  rachis,  which  soon  passes  into  an 
undefined  herbaceous  midrib.  The  basal  primary  divisions  of  the 
pinnae  are  therefore  distinct,  and  the  superior  ones  confluent. 
These  divisions  are  ovate-oblong,  and  are  cut  into  a  few  pinnatcly 
arranged  ovate  slightly-toothed  lobes,  the  minute  teeth  recurved 
to  form  an  involucre.  The  sporangia  arc  few  in  number,  —  prob- 
ably not  more  than  three  to  a  sorus.  The  spores  are  obscurely 
tctrahcdric  or  almost  spherical,  and  covered  with  finely  reticulated 
ridges  or  narrow  wings. 

In  the  shape  and  cutting  of  the  pinnae,  this  fern  is  most  like 
C.  IVrightii ;  but  the  fronds  are  rather  taller,  and  are  everywhere 
excessively  viscid,  in  places  appearing  as  if  varnished  over  with 
the  resinous  (?)  exudation  from  the  glands.  The  involucre,  too, 
is  more  herbaceous  in  C.  viscida.  The  stalk,  which  is  furrowed 
in  C.  IVriglitii,  is  perfectly  round  and  without  furrow  in  the 
present  plant ;  a  character  which  would  throw  it  into  Keyserling's 
§  Notholasna  of  the  genus  Cheilanthes,  but  its  general  affinities 
are  plainly  with  such  species  of  Cheilanthes  as  C.  IVnglitii  and 
C.  temiifolia. 

The  only  specimens  I  have  seen  are  from  the  collection  of 
Mr.  Davenport. 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


87 


Plate  XII..  Fig.  I.  — A  plant  of  Chcilanthcs  viscida,  with  three  fronds, 
that  to  the  right  showing  the  under  surface.  The  magnified  drawings  rep- 
resent a  scale  from  the  base  of  the  stalk,  a  fruiting  pinna,  one  of  the  pccul- 
iar  glands  and  a  spore,  the  two  last  magnified  many  diameters. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


89 


Plate  XII.  —  Fig.  2. 

CHEILANTHES   CLEVELANDII,  Eaton. 
Cleveland's  Lip-Fern. 

Cheilanthes  Clevelandii  :  —  Root-stock  creeping,  elon- 
gated, covered  with  narrow  rigid  dark-brown  scales ;  stalks  scat- 
tered, two  to  six  inches  long,  rather  rigid,  dark-brown,  scaly,  but 
at  length  nearly  smooth ;  mature  fronds  four  to  six  inches  long, 
ovate-lanceolate,  tripinnate  or  quadripinnate,  smooth  and  green 
above,  beneath  deep-fulvous-brown  from  the  dense  covering  of 
closely  imbricated  ovate-acuminate  elegantly  ciliated  scales,  which 
grow  from  the  rachises  and  the  midribs,  and  from  the  under  side 
of  the  ultimate  segments;  segments  otherwise  naked,,  flattish, 
nearly  round,  sessile,  one-third  to  one-half  of  a  line  broad,  the 
terminal  ones  a  little  larger,  the  margin  narrowly  recurved,  and 
unchanged  in  texture  or  color. 

Clieilanthcs  Clevelandii,  Eaton,  in  Bulletin  of  the  Torrey  Botanical  Club, 
vi.,  p.  33 ;  Ferns  of  the  South-West,  ined. 

Hab.  —  Discovered  in  1874  on  a  mountain  about  forty  miles  from  San 
Diego,  California,  at  an  elevation  of  about  twenty-five  hundred  feet,  by  Mr. 
Daniel  Cleveland.  Imperfect  specimens  of  possibly  the  same  thing  were 
collected  in  the  San  Bernardino  Range,  in  1875,  by  Dr.  Parry. 

Description. —  Root-stock  nearly  as  thick  as  a  goose-quill, 
several  inches  long,  covered  with  appressed  rigid  pointed  nearly 


:||  i 


90 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


black  scales.  Stalks  of  various  ages,  from  undeveloped  buds  to 
weather-beaten  fronds,  rise  from  different  points  along  the  root- 
stock.  They  are  about  one  line  in  diameter,  rigid,  and  perfectly 
terete,  thus  completely  invalidating  the  distinction  proposed  by 
Keyserling  (see  p.  68).  The  stalk  and  rachis,  when  young,  are 
covered  with  appressed  narrow  tawny-white  scales ;  but  these 
wear  off  from  the  stalk  as  the  frond  matures.  The  fronds  are 
three  or  four  times  pinnate ;  the  primary  pinnce  either  opposite  or 
alternate,  and  rather  closely  placed ;  the  secondary,  tertiary,  and 
quaternary  pinnae,  and  the  ultimate  segments,  usually  crowded. 
The  ultimate  pinnules,  if  terminal  or  solitary  along  the  upper  part 
of  the  tertiary  rachises,  are  roundish-ovate,  half  a  line  long,  and 
marked  by  a  slight  depression  on  the  upper  surface  at  the  base ; 
but  the  lower  lateral  segments  are  perfectly  round,  and  only  one- 
third  of  a  line  long  and  broad,  flattish-convex  above,  concave  and 
with  narrowly  recurved  margins  beneath.  The  scales,  which 
completely  hide  the  under  surface  of  the  frond,  are  at  first  nearly 
pure  white,  but  become  tawny  as  the  frond  matures,  so  that,  when 
the  frond  is  fully  developed,  they  are  of  a  rich  cinnamon-brown. 
In  shape  they  are  ovate-acuminate,  with  a  cordate  base,  and  are 
elegantly  fringed  with  curving  cilia,  especially  near  the  base,  and 
sparingly  from  the  surface  also.  The  scales  arc  only  half  as 
large  as  those  of  C.  Fetidkri,  and  are  composed  of  much  more 
tortuous  cells.  This  fern  may  prove,  in  the  end,  to  be  only  a  form 
of  C.  myriophylla  ;  but  that  species  is  woolly  as  well  as  scaly,  and 
the  scales  are  larger  and  not  so  closely  imbricated  as  in  the  fern 
here  described. 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


9» 


Plate  XII.,  Fig.  2. —  Chcilanthcs  Clcvclandii.  A  plant  with  two 
fronds,  one  showing  the  upper  and  one  the  under  surface.  In  the  middle 
of  the  plate  are  three  magnified  views  of  a  fragment  composed  of  seven  of 
the  ultimate  segments  or  pinnules.  The  upper  one  represents  the  under 
surface,  covered  with  scales ;  the  middle  one,  the  same  with  the  scales 
removed  ;  and  the  lower  one,  the  upper  surface  of  the  same  fragment.  To 
the  right  are  given,  at  the  bottom,  a  scale  from  the  root-stock ;  and,  above 
it,  a  scale  from  the  under  surface  of  the  frond. 


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ASPIDIUM  UNITUM,  var.  GLABRUM,  Mott. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


93 


Plate  XIII. 

ASPIDIUM    UNITUM,  var.  GLABRUM,  Mettenius. 
Rounded  Shield-Fern. 

AspiDiUM  UNITUM,  var.  GLABRUM :  —  Root-stock  elongated, 
creeping  in  advance  of  ihe  fronds ;  stalks  few,  scattered,  smooth, 
one  to  two  feet  liieh ;  frond  nearly  or  quite  as  long  as  the  stalk, 
oblong  in  outline,  rigid,  sub-coriaceous,  smooth,  pinnate,  the  apex 
abruptly  contracted  and  pinnatifid  ;  pinncTC  numerous,  short-stalked, 
sub-equal,  or  the  lowest  ones  a  little  shorter,  pinnatifid  about  half 
way  to  the  midrib  into  rounded  or  obtuse  closely-placed  lobes ; 
veins  pinnate,  the  lowest  ones  of  contiguous  lobes  united,  and 
sending  out  a  veinlet  to  the  sinus  between  the  lobes,  where  the 
second  pair  of  veins  meets  it,  and  sometimes  the  third  also ;  the 
upper  veins  straight  and  simple ;  sori  forming  a  continuous  in- 
tramarginal  line  around  the  pinna?,  and  often  extending  down 
nearly  to  the  midrib ;  indusium  rather  persistent,  round-reniform, 
commonly  quite  smooth. 

Aspidiiim  uni/uvi,  var.  iilabrum,  Meitknius,  in  Ann.  Mus.  Hot.  Liigd.-Batavi, 
i.,  p.  230.  —  Eaton,  in  Bull.  Torr.  Club,  iv.,  p.  19.  —  Chapman,  in 
Botan.  Gazette,  iii.,  ]).  20. 

Ncpltrodium  unitmn,  «,  gongylodcs,  Bakici^,  .Syn.  Fi!.,  p.  2S9. 

Aspidium  gogt^ylodiis,  Sciikuiir,  Krypt.  Gew.,  p.  193,  t.  33,  c. 

Aspidium  gottgylodcs,  MerrENius,  iilier  Aspiilfum,  p.  loi. 

Aspidium  Ecklonii,  Kunzk,  in  I.inna-a,  x.,  p.  546.  —  MrriENius,  I.e.,  p.  loi. 


■■'f'l 


94 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


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Had.  —  Swamps  and  bogs  of  Southern  Florida,  C.  E.  Faxon,  Dr, 
Palmer,  W.  R.  Tomi'.  jns,  Dr.  Chapman,  &c.  Widely  distributed  through- 
out the  West  Indies,  Guiana,  Brazil,  West  Africa,  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
Mauritius,  Ceylon   Java,  Sumatra,  Borneo,  &c. 

Description.  —  The  root-stock  creeps  beneath  the  surface  of 
the  ground,  and  extends  often  more  than  a  foot  in  advance  of  the 
fronds  :  it  is  angular  or  furrowed,  almost  naked,  and  nearly  black 
in  color.  It  is  commonly  about  one-sixth  of  an  inch  in  thickness. 
Scattered  along  the  newer  portion  are  a  few  short  stems,  which 
represent  the  fronds  of  the  copiing  year.  The  stalks  are  nearly 
naked,  blackish  in  the  lower  portion,  but  becoming  green  towards 
the  frond :  they  are  erect,  and  quite  rigid.  The  fronds  of  the 
Florida  specimens  are  from  one  to  two  feet  long ;  but  both  larger 
and  smaller  specimens  occur  in  foreign  collections.  The  fronds 
are  elongated-oblong  in  general  outline,  scarcely  or  not  at  all  con- 
tracted at  the  base,  but  abruptly  narrowed  to  a  more  or  less  devel- 
oped slender  finnatifid  apex.  The  pinnas  are  from  twenty  to 
thirty  on  each  side,  from  four  to  six  inches  long,  and  from  five 
to  eight  lines  wide.  They  arc  usually  nearly  straight,  placed  on 
the  rachis  at  an  angle  of  from  fifty  to  eighty  degrees,  the  lowest 
ones  with  a  stalk  a  line  long,  and  the  upper  ones  successively 
more  nearly  sessile.  Their  shape  is  linear-acuminate,  —  in  the 
lower  half  closely  pinnatifid  into  somewhat  roundish  lobes  about 
half  way  to  the  midrib ;  but  the  upper  half  of  each  one  is  less 
deeply  lobed,  and  for  the  last  inch  or  so  only  toothed.  The  sides 
of  the  lobes  and  teeth  are  often  slightly  recurved,  making  the 
lobes  seem  more  acute  than  they  really  arc,  and  giving  the  apices 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


95 


of  the  pinnae  a  more  serrated  appearance  than  properly  belongs  to 
them.  The  frond  is  sometimes  perfectly  smooth ;  but  more  fre- 
quently a  few  little  scales  and  a  very  scanty  and  minute  pubes- 
cence may  be  detected  along  the  midribs  and  veins,  and  especially 
along  the  margin  of  the  lobes.  This  pubescence  is  very  decidedly 
developed  in  van  liirsutum  (Mcttenius),'  which  has  not  been  found 
in  our  territory,  but  occurs  in  nearly  all  other  regions  where  our 
form  has  been  observed. 

The  veins  are  simple,  and  very  prominent  on  the  under  sur- 
face :  usually  there  are  about  seven  or  eight  pairs  of  them  to  each 
lobe,  but  sometimes  a  larger  number.  The  lowest  vein  on  the 
inferior  side  of  the  mid-vein  does  not  branch  out  from  that  mid- 
vein,  but  from  the  costa  of  the  pinna,  just  below  the  insertion,  or 
starting-point,  of  the  mid-vein.  The  lowest  vein  on  the  superior 
side  of  the  next  lower  lobe  starts  sometimes  from'  the  costa  also ; 
but  perhaps  as  frequently  from  the  mid-vein,  very  near  the  costa. 
These  two  veins  unite  at  an  angle,  and  send  out  a  single  vein  to 
the  sinus,  or  end  of  the  incision  between  the  two  lobes.  The 
next  pair  of  veins,  and  occasionally  the  third  pair  also,  extend 
likewise  to  the  sinus ;  but  the  superior  veins  are  all  free,  parallel, 
and  nearly  straight. 

'  It  may  be  well  to  give  some  of  the  synonymy  of  this  form  :  — 
Aspidium  unitiim,  var.  hirsutum,  Mettenius,  in  Ann.  M\is.  Dot.  I,iig(i.-I!.-it.iv.  1.  c. 
Nephrodium  unitum,  A, propinquum,  Bakf.k,  S\n.  I'il.,  p.  289. 
Aspidium  unitum,  Schkuhr,  Krypt.  G<nv.,  p.  34,  t.  33,  /'.  —  Swauiz,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  47.  — Wn.iDE- 

Now,  Sp.  ri.,  v.,  p.  241. 
Nephrodium  propiiuiuum,  R.  Kkown,  Prodr.,  p.  14S.  —  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  iv.,  p.  79  (excluding 

a  part  of  the  synonymy) . 


Ml 


'MjM 


96 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


The  sori  are  placed  one  on  each  vcinlct,  —  on  the  upper  vein- 
lets  near  the  margin  of  the  lobes,  but  near  the  middle  of  the  lower 
veinlets ;  thus  forming  a  very  evident  intramarginal  line  around 
the  lobes  of  the  pinnae,  and  descending  pretty  near  the  midrib 
between  the  lobes. 

The  indusium  is  far  more  rigid  and  persistent  than  in  most 
of  our  other  Aspidia:  it  is  roundish-reniform,  and  commonly 
quite  smooth,  though  Mettenius  says  "  tenuiter  pilosum."  In  the 
other  variety  the  indusium  is  densely  setose.  The  spores  arc 
bean-shaped,  and  often  have  a  deeply-impressed  hollow  on  the 
concave  side.     Their  surface  is  very  minutely  roughened. 

This  tropical  fern  has  been  known  since  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century  ;  but  it  was  first  discovered  within  our  limits 
in  1873,  when  Mr.  C.  E.  Faxon  collected  it  near  Enterprise, 
Florida.  In  the  genus  Aspidiitm  it  finds  a  place  in  the  section 
Nephrodiiim,  as  this  group  was  understood  by  Schott,  and  defined 
by  Presl  (Tentamcn,  p.  80)  and  by  Moore  (Index  Fil.,  p.  Ixxxvi.). 
In  the  Species  Filicum  and  the  Synopsis  Filicum  it  is  %Eune- 
phyodiiim  of  tiic  genus  Ncphrodium.  The  group,  by  what- 
ever name  it  is  called,  consists  of  those  Aspidioid  ferns  which 
have  a  reniform  indusium,  and  simple  pinnate  veins,  of  which  the 
lower  pair  or  several  pairs  of  contiguous  lobes  unite  at  an  angle, 
and  send  out  a  ray  or  veinlet  to  the  sinus.  There  are  in  the 
world  about  fifty  species  referable  to  the  group,  nearly  all  of  them 
inhabitants  of  tropical  or  sub-tropical  climates.  Aspidiitm  mollc, 
which  may  possibly  occur  along  the  Gulf  shores  of  our  Southern 
States,  belongs  near  the  present  species  ;  but,  if  it  should  be  found. 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


97 


it  can  be  readily  distinguished  by  its  softly  pubescent  frond  and 
shortened  root-stock. 

Dr.  Mcttcnius  seemed  to  be  confident  that  his  van  glabnim 
was  the  Poly  podium  tmitnm  of  Linnaeus  ;  but  Mr.  Baker  remarks 
that  the  Linnaean  specimen  so  named  is  the  Aspidiwn  cttcullatum 
of  Blume  and  Mettcnius.  Should  this  view  be  finally  adopted,  it 
would  seem  proper  to  call  the  present  fern  by  the  name  assigned 
to  it  by  Schkuhr,  slightly  modifying  the  orthography,  so  as  to 
correctly  represent  in  Latin  letters  the  Greek  word  j"i;''^'»%.  which 
means  roundish,  and  was  evidently  intended  by  Schkuhr  to  refer 
to  the  roundish  lobes  of  the  pinnae. 

The  synonymy  of  both  forms  of  this  species  is  very  much 
involved,  and  perhaps  will  never  be  entirely  cleared  up.  Ampler 
synonymy  may  be  found  in  Hooker's  Species  Filicum,  and  in  Dr. 
Mcttenius's  account  of  Indian  and  Japanese  ferns,  in  the  Annal ; 
of  the  Leydcn  Botanical  Museum. 

Plate  XIII.  —  A  frond  of  Aspidium  unilum,  van  glabrum,  with  the 
nearly  naked  elongated  root-stock.  A  pinna,  slightly  enlarged,  sliows  the 
position  of  tlic  fruit-dots ;  and  in  two  lobes,  enlarged  about  six  diameters, 
the  peculiar  venation  is  well  exhibited.  The  indusium,  with  its  sinuous- 
margined  cellules,  is  highly  magnified. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


99 


Plate  XIV.  — Fig.  t. 

ANEIMIA   MEXICAN  A,  Klotzsch. 
Mexican  Aneimia. 

Aneimia  Muxicana  :  —  Root-stock  short,  creeping,  covered 
with  narrow  curling  blackish  scales ;  stalks  four  to  eight  inches 
long,  pale,  smoothish,  wiry,  furrowed  on  one  side ;  fronds  coria- 
ceous, glabrous,  shining,  paler  beneath  ;  sterile  ones  deltoid-ovate, 
four  to  six  or  even  nine  inches  long,  having  about  four  to  six 
short  -  stalked  sub -cordate  ovate- acuminate  minutely  but  very 
sharply  serrulate  pinnae  on  each  side,  and  a  terminal  one  nearly 
as  large  as  the  rest ;  veins  free,  forking  from  a  distinct  mid-vein, 
closely  placed,  and  giving  the  surface  a  striated  appearance ;  fer- 
tile frond  like  the  sterile,  except  that  the  two  lowest  pinnae  are 
changed  into  long-stalked  erect  narrow  pinnately-compound  pani- 
cles of  fructification ;  the  ultimate  divisions  narrow  but  flat,  and 
bearing  on  the  under  surface  a  double  row  of  sessile  acorn-shaped 
sporangia,  which  have  a  reticulated  surface  and  a  radiated  cap  at 
the  top. 

Aneimia  Mcxicatia,  Ki.otzscii,  in  Linn;ua,  xviii.,  p.  526.  —  Kunze,  in  Lin- 
na^a,  xxiii.,  p.  223;  Die  Farrnkriiiitcr,  ii.,  p.  75,  t.  131.  —  Hooker, 
Ic.  Plant.,  t.  988.  —  Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn.  V\\.,  p.  443.  —  Eaton, 
in  Botany  of  the  Mexican  Boundary,  p.  235. 

Aneimia  speciosa,  Presi,,  Suppl.  TlmU.  Pteritl.,  p.  89.  —  Lhcdmann,  Mexicos 
Brcgncr,  p.  151.  (A  smaller  mountain-form,  figured  as  var.  paiui- 
folia  by  Hooker,  Second  Cent,  of  Ferns,  t.  65.) 


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100 


FKRNS  OF   NORTH    AMKRICA. 


Haii.  —  On  sliady  rivcr-clilfs  near  New  I?raiiiift;ls,  Texas,  I.indiikimer. 
Mc'(.lina,  in  Western  Texas,  and  in  a  rocky  arroyo  at  tlie  mouth  of  the  River 
Pecos,  Wrujiit.  Not  colloctccl  in  recent  years.  It  was  first  di-scribed 
from  Ascmkniioun's  Mexican  specimens,  and  is  now  reporteil  as  found  also 
in  Guatemala. 

Di'.scKii'TiON.  —  Tlic  root-stock  is  crccpinj^^  thouirh  probably 
not  greatly  elongated  ;  it  is  covcrcil  with  narrow  fuscous  or  black- 
ish scales,  which  arc  curled  rather  than  crisped,  and  is  developed 
slightly  in  advance  of  the  growing  fronds.  These  are  nearly 
erect,  and  their  whole  height  is  from  six  to  about  fifteen  inches. 
Fully  half  this  height  consists  of  the  stalk,  which  is  slender  and 
straw-colored,  —  at  least  in  drietl  specimens.  The  sterile  portion 
of  the  fertile  frond,  and  the  sterile  frond,  arc  exactly  alike:  the 
general  shape  is  triangular-ovate.  'J'he  pinna-  are  sid>coriaccous, 
and  commonly  about  five  or  six  on  each  side  besides  the  terminal 
one,  —  the  lowest  ones  with  a  distinctly  cordate  base,  the  upper 
ones  with  a  rounded  or  truncate  base,  usually  having  the  upper 
side  a  little  fuller  and  rounder  than  the  lower.  All  the  pinna-  are 
short-stalked,  —  the  lowest  ones  with  a  stalk  two  lines  long,  the 
upper  ones  having  them  gradually  shorter.  The  general  shape  of 
the  pinniL'  is  between  ovate  and  lanceolate.  The  pinnae  have  a 
well-marked  mid-vein,  distinct  to  the  very  apex,  and  very  closely- 
placed  forking  veins  on  each  side  of  it.  These  veins  give  the 
surface  a  striated  appearance.  The  tips  of  the  veins  extend  to 
the  apices  of  the  minute  but  very  sharp  and  incurved  serratures 
along  the  margin  of  the  pinna-.  In  the  fertile  frond  there  are 
two   narrow  pinnately-compound    panicles,  which    arc   raised  on 


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FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


lOl 


stalks  almost  as  long  as  the  sterile  portion,  ami  appear  to  be  its 
two  lowest  pinnaj  developed  into  fruetification.  Kimze  notes  that 
the  fruiting  hranchlets  are  herbaceous-margined,  glandular-pubes- 
cent, and  more  or  less  dilated  and  confluent  at  the  apex  of  the 
panicle.  The  spor.ingia  have  a  horizontal  apical  ring,  much  as  in 
Lygodium;  but  arc  attached  b)'  the  bottom,  not  by  the  side  as  in 
Lyi^iniiiiw.  They  are  arranged  in  a  double  row  on  the  divisions 
of  the  fruiting  panicle.  The  spores  are  very  beautiful :  they  are 
roundish-tetrahedral,  the  sides  covered  with  curious  elevated  and 
sometimes  forked  ridges,  which  Kunze  considers  characteristic  of 
the  genus. 

The  genus  Ancimia  has  but  two  species  within  our  limits, 
but  is  represented  in  the  tropics  —  principally  in  Tropical  America 
—  by  about  twenty-seven  species.  The  generic  character  is  this: 
Sponwgia  acorit-slwpcii,  loith  a  transverse  apical  riug,  like  a 
racliatcd  cap,  sessile  in  livo  roTos  on  the  branchlets  of  a  panicle. 
Panicles  either  separate  fronds,  or  in  pairs,  —  in  the  latter  case 
being  the  changed  ami  long-stalked  lower  pinnce  of  an  otherwise 
sterile  and  pinnately-divided  frond.  As  alrcatly  pointed  out  on 
page  4,  the  genus  is  associated  with  Lygodium,  Mohria,  Schizcea, 
and  Trochopteris.  The  name  was  originally  written  Anemia  by 
Swartz,  w  lio  took  it  "  from  the  <  ".reek  word  Avi\mv,  not  clothed, 
naked,  because  the  capsules,  without  any  covering,  rest  naked  in 
the  spikelets."  But  as  the  Greek  word  is  really  Avii\mv,  Kaulfuss 
wrote  the  word  Aneimia ;  in  which  orthography  he  has  been  gen- 
erally, though  not  universally,  followed.  The  curious  reader  will 
find  an  amusing  note  in  regard  to  this  matter  on  page  23  of 
Link's  "  Ferns  of  the  Berlin  Garden." 


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FF.RKS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


PiiUe  XIV.,  Fit^.  i.  —  Aiu'iv/ia  iMcxicana.  A  root-stock  bearing  a 
single  frond,  the  stalk  cut  in  two  for  convenience.  One  udc  of  a  sterile 
pinna  is  drawn  twice  the  natural  size,  to  show  the  venation  ;  and  to  the  left 
is  a  single  sporangium,  greatly  magnified,  and  exhibiting  the  apical  ring. 


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FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


103 


Plate  XiV.  —  Fig.  2. 

ANEIMIA  ADIANTIFOLIA,  Swartz. 
Maiden-hair  Aneimia. 

Anetmia  ADIANTIFOLIA: — Root-stock  crccpuig,  terete,  and 
covered  with  fine  blackish-fuscous  scales ;  stalks  somewhat  scat- 
tered, erect,  a  span  to  a  foot  high,  brownish  and  sparingly  chaffy- 
tomcntosc  near  the  base ;  fronds  shorter  than  the  stalk ;  the  ster- 
ile portion  deltoid-ovate,  sub-coriaceous,  pubescent  along  the 
rachises,  more  or  less  glossy  on  both  surfaces,  twice  or  thrice 
pinnate ;  pinnae  triangular-lanceolate,  acute  or  obtuse ;  pinnules 
obovate  or  ovate  with  a  cuneatc  base,  often  lobcd,  or  the  larger 
ones  pinnatifid,  toothed  at  the  apex,  striated  by  the  free  forking 
veinlets ;  fertile  panicles  long-stalked  from  the  base  of  the  sterile 
segment,  pinnately  compound,  the  branchlets  flattened,  and  bear- 
ing the  sessile  acorn-shaped  sporangia  in  double  rows. 

Aneimia  adiautifolia,  Swartz,  Syii.  I'll.,  p.  157.  —  Wii.ldenow,  Sp.  PL,  v., 
p.  94.  —  Ku.NZK,  in  Linnaa,  ix.,  \).  21  ;  xviii.,  p.  309  ;  xxiii.,  p.  221. 
—  PuESL,  Siippl.  Tent.,  p.  85.  —  Hooker  &  Gkevii.i.e,  Ic.  Fil., 
t.  16  (var.  asphiiijolici).  —  1"ato.\,  in  Chapman's  Flora  of  the 
Southern  States,  p.  59cS.  —  (iRiseisacii,  Md-a  of  Brit.  \V.  Ind.  Isl., 
p.  650.  —  Hooker  &  Raker,  ,Syn.  Fil.,  p.  434.  —  Fee,  Foiig.  Mex. 
Cat.,  p.  41.  —  I'OLRMLR,  Ml'x.  pi.,  Crypt.,  p.  139. 

Osmunda  adianti folia,  Liw.r.us,  S[).  PL,  j).  1520. 

Ornitlwptcris  adiautifolia,  Permiardi,  in  Schraders  N.  Journ.  Bot.,  1S06, 
ii.,  p.  50,  t.  3;  fiy.  15  h. 


\M\n' 


104 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


Anemirhiza   adiantifolia,   J.    Smith,    in    '.^eemann's    Bot.  Voy.  "  Herald," 

P-  243- 
Osmunda  Filicide  folio  major,  Pi.u.mier,  Fil.  Anier.,  p.  135,  t.  15S. 

Ancimia  asplcnifolia,  Swautz,  Syii.  I'il.,  p.  157. 

Ancimia  caniifoiia,  Presl,  Reliq.  Ha:nk.,  i.,  p.  74;  Suppl.  Tent.,  p.  85,  &c. 

H.\]i.  —  Southern  Florida,  Biscayne  Bay,  Kf:y  West,  &c.  It  is  found 
in  one  form  or  another  in  the  West  Indies,  Me.xico,  Central  and  South 
America,  growing  in  pine  woods,  WKUiur ;  and  on  old  ruins,  A.  Sciiorr. 

Descrh'TION. — -This  fern  has  a  terete  creeping  root-stock, 
about  the  eighth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  several  inches  long, 
covered  with  minute  nearly  black  suoulate  chaff,  composed  of  a 
single  series  of  cylindrical  cells.  The  stalks  arise  in  a  single 
series  from  the  upper  side  of  the  root-stock.  The  lower  portion 
of  the  stalk  is  dark-colored,  antl  moderately  pubescent  with  slen- 
der brown  articulated  hairs ;  but  the  upper  part  is  much  lighter, 
and  almost  smooth.  In  large  specimens  from  the  West  Indies 
the  stalk  is  a  foot  long;  but  in  the  Florida  specimens  it  is  several 
inches  shorter.  The  sterile  fronds  are  placed  on  shorter  stalks 
than  the  fertile  ones,  as  is  very  commonly  the  case  in  most  genera 
of  ferns.  The  sterile  fronds,  and  the  sterile  portion  of  the  fertile 
fronds,  are  triangular-ovate  in  shape,  from  four  to  eight  or  nine 
inches  long,  and  at  the  base  about  three-fourths  as  broad.  They 
are  sub-coriaceous  m  texture,  rather  rigid,  and  more  or  less  hairy 
along  the  rachises  and  on  the  under  side  of  the  veins.  The  upper 
surface  has  a  striated  appearance,  and  is  glossy,  but  still  bears  a 
few  minute  scavtered  hairs. 

The  sterile  frond,  or  segment,  is  bipinnate  in  ordinary  spcci- 


;-  I 


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FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


105 


mens,  and  tripinnate  in  very  large  ones.  The  pinna:  are  pinnately 
lobed  or  divided,  and  often  have  an  acuminate  apex,  especially  in 
very  large  plants.  The  segments  aio  lobed  or  not,  according  to 
the  size  of  the  frond ;  but  the  ultimate  segments  and  lobes  are 
rhomboid-ovate  or  obovate,  —  broadly  or  narrowly  so  in  different 
specimens,  —  the  apex  obtuse  or  barely  acute,  and  always  with  a 
few  minute  teeth.  The  veins  are  free  and  flabellately  forking,  so 
that  the  lobes  have  no  distinct  mid-vein. 

As  in  the  Mcy'ran  Atteimia,  so  in  this  one,  the  fertile  pani- 
cles arc  long-stalkeu,  and  rise  from  the  top  of  the  stalk,  just  at 
the  base  of  the  sterile  portion  of  the  frond.  They  arc  usually 
twice  pinnate,  and  have  short  pinnately-divided  pinnules,  the  seg- 
ments of  which  are  flattened,  and  bear  two  rows  of  acorn-shaped 
sporangia  provided  with  a  terminal  transverse  apical  ring,  —  the 
characteristic  of  the  sub-order  to  which  the  plant  belongs.  The 
spores  are  roundish-tetrahedral,  and  have  minute  ridges  on  the 
surface,  but  not  so  well  developed  as  those  of  the  species  last 
described. 

The  Florida  specimens  arc  not  very  large,  and  belong  to  the 
form  figured  by  Hooker  and  Greville  under  the  name  of  var. 
asplcnifolia,  having  the  sterile  frond  barely  bipinnate,  and  the 
divisions  obtuse. 

Authors  have  attempted  to  separate  from  the  genus  Aneimia 
those  few  species  which  have  anastomosing  veins,  and  to  make  of 
them  the  genus  Ancmidictyon,  and  in  like  manner  to  place  the 
species  which  have  the  fertile  fronds  destitute  ol  ,1  foliaceous 
sterile  portion  under  the   separate  genus  Copt ophyll urn ;   but  it 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


seems  more  natural  to  keep  all  the  species  together,  and  to  use 
the  characters  of  venation  and  of  tne  combination  or  separation 
fertile  and  sterile  fronds  only  for  making  sections.  Mr.  John 
Smith's  proposition  (in  the  Botany  of  the  Voyage  of  H.  M.  S. 
"Herald"),  to  establish  the  genus  Ananirhiza  for  the  present 
fern,  because  "  the  fronds  are  distant,  and  produced  in  a  single 
series  from  an  elongating  creeping  axis,  which  assumes  the  form 
of  a  rhizome,"  he  seems  to  have  abandoned  in  his  later  writings, 

Plate  XIV.,  Fig.  2.  —  An  entire  plant  of  Aneimia  adiantifolia  of  the 
natural  size.  The  details  are  a  portion  of  the  fructification  enlarged,  and  a 
highly-magnified  sporangium. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


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Plate  XV.  — Fig.  i. 

ASPLENIUM    RUTA-MURARIA,  Linn^.us. 
Wall-Rue. 

AsPLENiuM  RuTA-MURARiA :  —  Plants  of  small  size;  root- 
stocks  short,  creeping,  entangled  ;  stalks  tufted,  one  to  three  inch.;s 
long,  green,  brownish  at  the  base ;  fronds  evergreen,  sub-coria- 
ceous, smooth,  nearly  as  long  as  the  stalks,  deltoid-ovate  in  out- 
line, laxly  bi-tripinnate  at  the  base,  pinnate  towards  the  apex,  the 
divisions  alternate ;  ultimate  segments  few,  stalked,  two  to  five 
lines  long,  varying  from  narrowly  cuneate  to  broadly  rhomboid 
or  even  roundish-obovate,  the  apices  or  outer  margins  crenate, 
toothed,  or  deeply  incised ;  mid-vein  none,  veinlets  free,  flabcl- 
lately  forking ;  sori  linear-oblong,  two  to  four  to  a  segment,  con- 
fluent when  ripe ;  indusium  very  delicate,  having  a  ciliated 
margin. 

Aspletiiiim  Ruta-muraria,  Linn^icus,  Sp.  PI.,  p.  1541.  —  Swartz,  Syn.  Fil., 
p.  85. — WiiXDENOw,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  341.  —  ScHKUiiR,  Krypt.  Gcw., 
p.  75,  t.  80,  h.  —  Mettenius,  liber  Asplenium,  p.  143.  —  Hooker, 
Sp.  Fil.,  iv.,  p.  176.  —  Moore,  Nat.  Pr.  Brit.  Ferns,  t.  41,  A. — 
Heufler,  Aspl.  Sp.  Eur.,  p.  329.  —  Mii.de,  Fil.  Eur.  ct  Atl.,  p.  76. 
—  MicnAUX,  Fl.  Bor.  Am.,  ii.,  p.  266. —  Pursh,  F1.  Am.  Sept., 
p.  667.  —  BiGELow,  Fl.  Boston.,  ed.  iii.,  p.  422.  —  Darlington,  F1. 
Cest.,  ed.  iii.,  p.  393.  —  Torrey,  Fl.  New  York,  ii.,  p.  492.  —  Gi^w, 
Manual,  ed.  omn.  —  Eaton,  in  Chapm.  Fl.,  p.  593. 


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Asplcniiiin  miiroruiii,  I.amauck,  l''lorc  Fran(,-aise,  i.,  p.  28. 

Aspkniinn  miiralc,  Bkkniiardi,  in  Scliradcrs  Journal  fiir  die  liotatiik,  1801, 

i.,  p.  19. 
Scolopmdrmm  Ruta-muraria,  Roth,  Fl.  Germ.,  iii.,  p.  52. 
Tarachia  Rtita-mitniria,  PRiisi.,  Epiincl.  Bot.,  p.  81. 

IIaii.  —  Clefts  of  calcareous  rocks,  from  Vermont  to  North  Carolina, 
and  westward  to  Indiana  and  Tennessee,  but  not  .seen  on  walls  in  America. 
It  is  common  throughout  Europe  on  walls  and  on  rocks,  especially  calca- 
reous rocks.  It  has  been  noticed  in  Algeria,  and  in  Asia  as  far  cast  as 
Cashmere. 

DE.SCRIPTION.  —  Root-stocks  short,  creeping,  entangled  ;  cov- 
ered, like  the  base  of  the  young  stalks,  with  narrow  slender- 
pointed  blackish  scales.  These  scales  are  composed  of  irregular 
oblong  cells,  with  the  dissepiments  very  heavy  and  black.  The 
slender  tips  are  composed  of  two  series  of  cells  ;  and  it  is  only 
the  wall  l)ctween  the  adjacent  cells  that  is  thickened,  the  walls 
along  the  edges  of  the  scale  being  thin  and  transparent.  The 
analogy  to  the  structure  of  a  tooth  of  a  moss-peristome  is  notice- 
able. 

The  stalks  are  of  variable  length,  according  to  the  size  of  the 
plant  and  its  place  of  growth.  In  bare,  sunny  spots,  the  whole 
plant  will  be  scarcely  an  inch  high  ;  while,  on  damp  and  shaded 
rocks,  specimens  fully  six  inches  long  have  been  collected.  The 
stalks  are  green  and  herbaceous  except  at  the  very  base,  where 
they  are  deep-brown  and  more  rigid,  and,  as  Dr.  Milde  has  espe- 
cially noticed,  furnished  with  globose  unicellular  glandules  of  a 
grayish  color,  "  so  large  that  you  might  take  them  for  unicellular 


nil 


FICRNS  OK   NOR'lII   AMICRICA. 


109 


alga-'."  The  fibro-vasciilar  Inindlc  seems  in  the?  livinj,^  plant  to  be 
flattened-cyliiulrical  in  shape,  and  at  the  very  base  of  the  stalk  to 
have  a  blackish  mass  of  sclcrenchyma  in  front  of  it.  Near  the 
base  the  surrounding  tissue  is  semi-transparent,  with  an  exterior 
layer  of  dark  cells  ;  but  higher  up  the  surrounding  tissue  is  filletl 
with  chlorophyll,  and  the  outside  layer  is  colorless.  A  more  care- 
ful study  of  the  stalk  would  probably  discover  other  peculiarities 
which  have  escaped  my  observation. 

The  frond  is  generally  a  little  shorter  than  the  stalk,  and  is 
triangular-ovate  or  deltoid  in  outline.  It  is  simply  pinnate  near 
the  apex,  but  twice  pinnate,  or  even  three  times  pinnate,  near  the 
base.  It  is,  when  mature,  perfectly  smooth,  and  of  a  sub-coria- 
ceous texture.  The  rachis  and  its  divisions  are  quite  slender,  and 
green  like  the  scgmc.Us.  These  arc  extremely  variable  in  form, 
so  that  from  their  shape  no  less  than  nine  varieties  have  been 
distinguished  by  Ileutlcr.  In  small  plants,  grown  in  dry  exposed 
places,  the  segments  arc  roundish-obovatc,  with  a  cuneate  base, 
and  the  outer  edge  merely  crenate.  More  frequently  the  form  is 
cuneate-rhomboid  with  the  outer  edges  toothed ;  and  specimens, 
either  large  or  small,  with  narrower  and  deeply-incised  segments, 
are  by  no  means  rare.  These  forms  all  occur  indiscriminately ; 
and  it  seems  better  to  simply  record  the  great  variability  of  the 
form  of  the  segments  than  to  s[)lit  up  the  species  into  nine  varie- 
ties, with  Ileufler,  or  ten,  with  JNIilde. 

The  sori  are  long  or  short,  and  variable  in  number,  according 
to  the  size  and  shape  of  the  segment.  When  fully  ripe,  the  spo- 
rangia nearly  cover  the  under  surface,  so  that  the  fern   has  been 


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mistaken  for  an  ^crostichum.  The  indusia  are  mostly  single ; 
but  now  and  then  a  double,  or  diplazioid,  indusium  will  be  found. 
They  are  very  delicate,  and  have,  as  Schkuhr  has  well  shown  in 
his  figure,  a  beautifully  cillate  margin.  Spores  ovoid-bean-shaped, 
with  a  minutely-roughened  surface. 

This  species  need  not  be  confounded  with  any  other  in  North 
America.  Aspienium  montanutn  and  A.  scptentrionale  are  the 
nearest,  and  from  both  of  these  it  is  very  easily  distinguished. 
There  is  in  Europe  a  a. ore  closely  related  species,  —  A.  Germani- 
cum,  —  which  may  hf-  known  by  the  fewer,  narrower,  and  decidedly 
incurved  segments,  and  especially  by  having  the  indusium  entire, 
and  not  ciliated.  The  wall-rue  has  been  known  to  botanists  for 
three  hundred  and  fifty  years  ;  and  in  Heufler's  work  on  European 
Asplenia  there  may  be  found  many  references  to  ante-Linnsean 
descriptions  of  it,  as  well  as  a  more  abundant  citation  of  later 
references  th^n  I  have  thought  necessary  to  give.  See  also 
Moore's  Index  Filicum  and  Milde's  European  and  Atlantic 
Ferns. 


Mr.  Emerton's  illustration  represents  one  of  the  commonest  American 
forms  of  this  variable  little  fern. 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


Ill 


Plate  XV.  — Fig.  2. 

ASPLENIUM    SEPTENTRIONALE,  Hoffmann. 
Forked  Spleenwort. 

AsPLENiUM  SEPTENTRIONALE:  —  Root-stocks  short,  Creep- 
ing, densely  tufted,  covered  with  narrow  blackish  chaff;  stalks 
very  slender,  three  to  six  inches  high,  dark-brown  at  the  base, 
green  above,  alternately  forked,  the  branches  gradually  widening 
into  two  to  five  very  narrow  cuneate  and  acuminate  segments, 
which  are  six  to  fifteen  lines  long,  scarcely  a  line  wide,  and 
incisely  toothed  at  the  apex ;  texture  sub-coriaceous,  and  rather 
rigid ;  veins  forked,  closely  parallel ;  sori  elongated,  one  to  three 
on  a  segment ;  indusia  delicate,  entire,  or  very  sparingly  ciliate. 

Asplenium   septentrionalc,    Hoffmann,   Deutschlands    Flora,   ii.,   p.   12. — 
SwARTZ,  in  Schraders  Journal,  ii.  (1800),  p.  50;  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  75. 

—  ScHKUiiR,  Krypt.  Gew.,  p.  62,  t.  65.  —  Willdenow,  Sp.  PI.,  v., 
p.  307.  —  Presl,  Tent.  Pterid.,  p.  106,  t.  3,  fig.  8.  —  Moore,  Brit. 
Ferns,  Nat.  Print.,  t.  41,  C.  —  Mettenius,  iiber  Asplenium,  p.  141. 

—  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  iii.,  p.  174;  Brit.  Ferns,  t.  26.  —  Milde,  Fil. 
Eur.  et  Atl.,  p.  81.  —  Eaton,  in  Bot.  Mex.  Boundary,  p.  235. — 
Porter  &  Coulter,  Syn.  Fl.  Colorado,  p.  154. 

Acrostichum  scptcntrionale,  Linn/EUS,  Sp.  PL,  p.  1524. 

Pteris  scptcntrionalis.  Smith,  in  Mem.  Acad.  Turin,  v.,  p.  412. 

Scolopendrium  septcnirionale.  Roth,  Fl.  Germ.,  iii.,  p.  49. 

Acropteris  septentrionalis.  Link,  Hort.  Berot,  ii.,  p.  56 ;  Fil.  Sp.  Hort.  Berol., 


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112 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


p.  8o.  —  Fee,  Gen.  Fil.,  p.  77,  t.  6,  A.  —  Heukler,  Aspl.,  Sp.  Eur., 

P-  344- 
Amesiutn  septentrionale,  Newman,  Hist.  Brit.  Ferns,  ed.  iii.,  p.  265. 

Hab.  —  On  Ben  Moore,  New  Mexico,  Bigelow,  Wright.  Colorado, 
Hall  &  Harbour  ;  and  growing  with  Asplctiium  Trichomanes  along  the 
brink  of  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Arkansas,  Brandegee.  It  is  found  in 
crevices  of  rocks  and  on  walls  in  Great  Britain  and  in  the  mountainous 
regions  of  Europe,  and  in  Asia  as  far  as  Cashmere  and  Kumaon. 

Description.  —  The  habit  of  growth  is  very  much  as  in  the 
wall-rue,  except  that  this  species  forms  still  more  extended  tufts. 
The  scales  of  the  root-stock  are  very  similar  to  those  of  the  spe- 
cies just  named,  but  bear  a  few  pedicelled  marginal  glands.  The 
stalks  are  commonly  longer  than  in  the  other  species  ;  and,  after 
the  upper  greenish  portion  has  broken  away,  the  lower  or  dark- 
brown  part  persists  a  long  time.  The  section  of  the  upper  part 
of  the  stalk  shows  that  it  has  three  longitudinal  furrows,  though 
two  of  these  may  be  due  to  drying.  The  fibro-vascular  bundle  is 
oval  in  section,  and  the  central  or  more  truly  vascular  portion 
of  it  is  triangular  with  hollowed  sides.  The  stalk  is  cither 
forked  or  alternately  branched  at  the  top,  and  bears  from  two  to 
five  very  narrow  segments.  These  taper  both  at  the  base  and 
apex :  they  arc  sometimes  forked,  but  more  frequently  toothed 
and  incised  towards  the  apex.  The  veins  are  forked  near  the 
base  of  the  segment  into  as  many  closely  parallel  veinlcts  as  there 
are  teeth  to  the  segment.  The  sori  are  often  nearly  an  inch  long 
and,  when  the  sporangia  are  ripe,  nearly  cover  the  back  of  the 
segment.     The  indusia  open  towards  the  median  line  of  the  seg- 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


"3 


ment,  and  are  so  broad  as  to  sometimes  overlap  each  other.  They 
are  composed  of  cellules  with  very  sinuous  borders,  and  have  a 
usually  entire  edge,  though  here  and  there  a  few  short  marginal 
hairs  may  be  detected,  —  a  point  which  seems  to  have  escaped  the 
close  and  usually  accurate  observation  of  Milde.  The  spores  arc 
ovoid-bean-shaped,  and  minutely  roughened.  It  is  a  somewhat 
remarkable  thing  in  the  geographical  distribution  of  ferns,  that 
this  curious  little  fern  should  be  by  no  means  uncommon  in  the 
mountainous  regions  of  Europe  and  of  Western  and  Southern 
Asia,  and  should  occur  in  America,  not  in  those  parts  of  the  con- 
tinent nearest  to  Europe,  nor  in  the  more  northern  regions,  but  in 
what  may  be  called  the  very  heart  of  the  continent.  I  believe  Dr. 
J.  M.  Bigelow  was  the  first  to  detect  it,  in  1851  ;  though  it  may 
have  been  collected  by  Mr.  Charles  Wright  a  little  earlier. 

A  glance  at  the  synonymy  will  show  the  very  great  diversity 
of  views  which  authors  have  formerly  held  as  to  its  generic  affin- 
ities ;  but  the  more  recent  writers  on  the  subject,  with  scarcely 
an  exception,  have  considered  it  an  Asplenium.  Mr.  Newman, 
who  proposed  to  erect  the  genus  Amesium  for  this  plant  and  for 
A.  Ruta-muraria  and  A.  Gcrmaniciim,  was  disposed  to  doubt 
whether  all  the  three  might  not  be  so  connected  together  by 
intermediate  forms  as  to  constitute  but  one  really  good  species. 

Mr.  Enierton  has  taken  his  illustration  frop".  a  plant,  with  five  fronds, 
collected  by  Mr.  Brandcgee  in  Colorado.  C:ie  segment  is  shown,  some- 
what magnified. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


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Plate  XVI. 

"Wrtr-^MBP^VPODIUM   AUREUM,  Linn>eus. 
Golden  Polypody. 

PoLYPODiUM  AUREUM :  —  Root-stock  stout,  Creeping,  very 
chaffy,  with  narrow  bright-brown  scales ;  stalks  scattered,  rather 
strong,  six  to  eight  inches  high,  brownish,  smooth,  and  somewhat 
shining;  fronds  a  foot  or  more  long,  sub-coriaceous,  smooth, 
glaucous-green,  especially  beneath,  ovate  in  outline,  deeply  pin- 
natifid ;  lobes  three  to  six  inches  long,  five  to  eighteen  lines  wide, 
oblong-lanceolate  from  a  broad  base,  undulate  on  the  margin,  but 
otherwise  entire,  the  terminal  one  as  large  as  the  others  ;  veins 
reticulated,  forming  narrow  areoles  along  the  midrib,  outside  of 
these  one  or  two  rows  of  larger  ones  enclosing  sorifcrous  veinlets, 
and  between  these  and  the  margin  numerous  small  sterile  areoles ; 
sori  in  a  single  row  each  side  the  midrib  of  the  segments,  or  in 
large  fronds  in  two  or  three  rows,  the  outer  row  irregular,  com- 
monly seated  on  the  connivent  tips  of  two  included  veinlets. 

Polypodium  aureum,  Linn/eus,  Sp.  PI.,  p.  1546.  —  Swartz,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  32. 
—  ScHKUiiR,  Krypt.  Gew.,  p.  13,  t.  12.  —  Willdenow,  Sp.  PI.,  v., 
p.  169.  —  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  v.,  p.  16.  —  Eaton,  in  Chapman's 
Flora,  p.  588.  —  Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  347. 

Pleopeltis  aurea,  Presl,  Tent.  Pterid.,  p.  193. 

Chrysopteris  aurea.  Link,  Fil.  Sp.  Hort.  Berol.,  p.  121.  —  Fee,  Gen.  Fil., 
p.  265. 


( 


Ii6 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


y 


..I 


I' 


Phkbodium  aureum,  R.  Brown.  —  J.  Smith,  "in    Hook.  Journ.  Dot,  Iv., 
p.  58." — Hcx)KER,  Gen.  Fil.,  t.  112.  —  Moore,  Intl.  I-'il.,  p.  Ixxiii. 

Hab.  —  Epiphytic  on  trees,  especially  on  the  palmetto,  in  the  penin- 
sula of  Florida.  Common  in  the  West  Indies,  and  in  South  America  as  far 
as  Brazil. 

Description.  —  The  root-stock  is  creeping,  and  properly  but 
little  thicker  than  a  goose-quill ;  but  it  is  so  abundantly  covered 
with  bright-brown  acuminate  ciliated  chaff,  that  the  apparent 
diameter  is  half  an  inch.  As  in  all  the  true  Polypodia,  the 
root-stock  bears  scattered  prominences,  or  knobs,  to  which  the 
separate  stalks  of  the  fronds  are  articulated,  and  from  which  they 
fall  away  when  finally  withered.'  The  height  of  the  fronds  in 
the  Florida  plant  is  from  a  few  inches  to  two  feet,  of  which  about 
one-third  is  stalk,  and  two-thirds  frond  proper.  The  stalk  is 
rather  rigid,  perfectly  smooth,  when  fresh  somewhat  glaucous,  but 
in  herbarium  specimens  of  a  brownish  color.  It  passes  grad- 
ually into  a  strong  midrib. 

In  very  young  plants  the  frond  is  simple,  or  three-lobed ;  but 

'  This  mode  of  growth,  Mr.  John  Smith,  the  former  curator  of  the  Royal 
Botanical  Gardens  at  Kew,  now  a  man  of  venerable  age,  has  described,  and  care- 
fully distinguished  from  the  commoner  mode  which  is  seen  in  Aspidium,  Asple- 
nium,  Phegopteris,  &c.  The  former  he  calls  "  Ercniobryoid,"  and  the  latter  "  Des- 
mobryoid."  In  the  Eremobrya  "each  frond  springs  from  a  separate  node,  more  or 
less  distant  from  its  neighbor,  and  is  there  articulated  with  the  rhizome ;  so  that, 
when  it  has  passed  its  maturity,  it  separates  at  the  node,  and  leaves  behind  a  clean 
concave  scar.  .  .  .  The  essential  distinction  between  the  Eremobrya  and  Desmo- 
brya  rests  in  the  fronds  of  the  former  being  articulated  with  the  axis,  while  those 
of  the  latter  are  adherent  and  continuous  with  the  axis." 


I 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


"7 


in  larger  plants  it  is  ovate  or  oblong-ovate  in  outline,  and  con- 
sists of  a  variable  number  (five  to  twenty-five)  of  ample  oblong- 
lanceolate  segments,  which  are  separated  by  more  or  less  rounded 
and  open  sinuses,  leaving  a  border  a  third  of  an  inch  wide  along 
each  side  of  the  general  midrib.  The  two  lowest  segments  arc 
somc;imes  distinctly  separated  from  the  rest,  and  are  usually 
slightly  dccurved.  The  central  wing  widens  gradually  upwards, 
and  at  the  apex  of  the  frond  is  continued  out  into  an  undivided 
terminal  segment,  which  is  nearly  or  quite  as  large  as  any  of  the 
others.  The  segments  are  undulate  or  wavy,  but  entire,  and  have 
a  very  narrow  cartilaginous  line-like  border.  The  texture  of  the 
frcnd  is  firm  and  sub-cartilaginous  ;  and  the  color  is  a  glaucous- 
grccn,  becoming  on  the  under  surface  paler  and  more  decidedly 
glaucous. 

The  venation  is  peculiar,  and,  as  the  synonymy  shows,  has 
puzzled  those  authors  who  have  endeavored  to  divide  up  PolypO' 
dium  into  a  dozen  or  more  genera,  based  principally  on  differences 
in  venation.  Each  segment  has  a  central  midrib,  and  on  each 
side  of  it  numerous  reticulated  veins  and  veinlets.  Closely  bor- 
dering the  midribs  (both  general  and  partial)  is  a  series  of  narrow 
elongattu  meshes  or  areoles.  Outside  of  these  are  one  or  two 
irregular  rows  of  broader  areoles,  with  smaller  ones  variously 
interposed.  These  larger  areoles  generally  contain  each  a  large 
round  or  slightly  oval  sorus  or  fruit-dot,  which  is  placed  some- 
times at  the  apex  of  a  single  included  veinlet,  or  more  frequently 
at  the  united  extremities  of  two  or  even  three  included  veinlets, 
which,  when  the  sori  are  in  but  a  single  row  each  side  of  the  mid- 


Ii8 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


Il    :i 


rib,  rise  from  the  back,  or  outer  margin,  of  the  narrow  basal  (or 
paracostal)  arcoles.  Outside  of  the  fruit-containing  arcolcs  are 
other  smaller  arcolcs,  usually  in  the  shape  of  narrow  hexagons, 
and  destitute  of  included  veinlcts.  The  group  of  ferns  to  which 
this  plant  belongs  was  first  clearly  distinguished  by  the  learned 
Robert  Brown,  under  the  name  of  Phlcbodium,  probably  in 
"Plants  Javanicne  Rariores,"  —  a  work  to  which,  unfortunately,  I 
have  not  access.  But  his  remarks  upon  it  are  quoted  in  Hooker's 
"  Genera  Plantarum."  Phlcbodium  has  been  accepted  as  a  genus 
by  John  Smith  and  Moore,  Ijut  was  reduced — very  properly,  as 
I  think  —  to  a  section  of  Polypodium  by  Hooker.  With  Met- 
tenius,  the  name  has  been  applied  to  a  much  larger  assemblage 
of  Polypodia;  but,  as  used  by  Hooker  and  Baker,  it  includes 
only  three  species,  —  P.  uigtipes  (Hooker)  from  Venezuela,  P. 
aureum,  and  P.  decnnmnum.  With  P.  aureitm  arc  associated  as 
varieties  P.  areolatum  (H.  B.  K.)  and  P.  pnlvinatitm  (Link). 
These  vary  somewhat  from  the  character  of  P.  aurcnm  as  given 
above,  but  are  probably  not  specifically  distinct,  although  so 
considered  by  many  authors  of  high  reputation.  They  occur 
in  Mexico,  the  West  Indies,  and  South  America.  The  first 
variety,  areolatum,  which  includes  P.  sporadocarpum  (Willd,), 
is  thus  defined  by  Hooker  and  Baker:  '' Frond  smaller,  more 
coriaceous,  very  glaucous,  the  lobes  closer,  the  sori  uniscrial,  and 
barren  arcoles  with  no  free  veinlcts."  The  latter,  pidvinatum: 
"  Like  areolaium  m  sori  and  venation,  but  the  frond  hardly  at 
all  glaucous,  and  the  terminal  lobe  very  small." 

The  Golden  Polypody  takes  its  name  undoubtedly  from  the 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


119 


luxuriant  golden-brown  chaff  of  the  rhizoma.  It  was  discovered 
long  ago  in  the  West  Indies,  and  received  from  ante-Linnasan 
botanists  a  variety  of  names.  Plumicr  fijrured  it  at  Plate  76  of 
his  magnificent  folio,  "Traitii  des  Fougiires  de  lAmcrique"  (pub- 
lished in  1705),  and  named  it  Polypodium  majus  aurettm.  He 
says,  "  Co  Polipode  a  la  racine  grosse  environ  d'un  poucc,  ct 
longue  bien  souvent  d'un  pied,  ronde,  noiieusc,  ramei'sc,  tharnuc, 
vcrdastre  en  dedans,  d'un  goust  astringent,  ct  toute  couvcrte  de 
petites  (I'cailles  dorces,"  It  forms  one  r\^  the  finest  ornaments 
of  the  ferneries,  in  which  it  is  frequently  i  ultivated. 

The  genus  Polypodium  —  even  when  limited,  as  by  Mettcnius, 
to  the  ferns  having  round  or  round  1  !i  naked  sori,  composed  of 
'  t)orangia  with  an  incomplete  verticil  ring,  tli  Ualks  of  the  fronds 
articulated  to  the  rhizoma  —  contains  several  hundred  species. 
Mettcnius  gives  two  hundred  and  sixty;  and,  in  the  second  edition 
of  "Species  Filicum,"  Mr.  Baker  brings  up  the  numbu  to  three 
hundred  and  forty.  The  great  differences  in  the  size  and  outlines 
of  the  frond,  in  the  venation,  in  the  texture,  and  in  the  surface,  — 
whether  smooth,  hairy,  tomcntose,  or  scaly,  —  and  in  the  presence 
or  absence  of  peltate  scales  among  the  sporangia,  have  induced 
writers  on  the  subject,  especially  Link,  J.  Smith,  Presl,  Fee,  and 
Moore,  to  propose  dividing  the  genus  into  many  genera,  founded 
on  the  characters  just  referred  to.  But  Mettcnius  has  satisfacto- 
rily shown  that  the  intermediate  forms  are  so  many  and  so  per- 
plexing, that  the  whole  is  best  regarded  as  forming  but  one 
natural  genus;  and  in  this  view  he  has  been  followed  by  Sir 
W.  J.  Hooker  and  Mr.  Baker,  who,  however,  retain  in  Polypo- 


i 


m' 


t 


i^^Ui 


1 20 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


cfiu/n  those  ferns  which  differ  from  y^spidium  (or  Nephrodiuni) 
only  in  the  absence  of  an  indusium,  —  a  character  whicn  is  often 
the  result  of  accident  or  of  arrested  development.  These  species, 
nearly  one  hundred  in  number,  constitute  the  genus  Phegopteris, 
and  are  technically  distinguished  from  the  true  Polypodia  by 
having  the  stalks  continuous  with  the  rhizoma.  The  true  Poly- 
podia of  the  United  States  and  Canadas  arc  but  eight  in  number. 
Three  of  these  have  the  veins  free,  —  P.  Phmuila,  P.  vulgarc, 
and  P.  fakattim ;  two  —  P.  Californicttm  and  P.  incanum  — 
have  the  veins  sometimes  free,  and  sometimes  sparingly  reticu- 
lated; and  three  —  P.  Scoulcri,  P.  aurcum,  and  P.  Pliyllitidis  — 
have  the  veins  regularly  reticulated,  but  in  three  different  methods, 
representing  respectively  the  sections  Goniophhlcbium,  Phhlebo- 
dinm,  and  Campyloncunim. 

Plate  XVI.  —  Polypodium  aurcum.  The  principal  drawing  represents 
a  frond  collected  in  Florida  many  years  ago  by  Mr.  S.  B.  Buckley ;  but  the 
coloring  is  from  living  plants  in  Mr.  Merrill's  collection.  A  young  plant, 
collected  by  Dr.  I'Alward  Palmer,  is  also  figured  ;  and  the  enlarged  drawing 
shows  the  peculiar  venation  and  the  position  of  the  sort. 


■\h 


h  ** 
1 J 


iiH 


U'M 


§\ 


M 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


121 


Plate  XVII.  — Figs.  i-8. 

I30TRYCHIUM   SIMPLEX,  Hitchcock. 
Hitchcock's  Moonwort. 

BoTRYCHiUM  SIMPLEX :  —  Plant  smooth,  fleshy,  not  often 
over  six  inches  high  ;  sterile  segment  petioled,  set  near  the  base 
of  the  plant,  rarely  above  the  middle,  varying  from  simple  and 
roundish-obovate  in  small  plants  to  triangular-ovate  and  deeply- 
lobed,  or  even  fully  ternate  with  incised  divisions  in  more  devel- 
oped forms  ;  segments  broadly  obovate-cuncate  or  slightly  lunate, 
the  outer  margin  obscurely  crenulate,  sometimes  lobed ;  veins 
flabellatcly  forking ;   fertile  segment  once  or  twice  pinnate. 

Botrychium  simplex,  Hitchcock,  in  Silliman's  Joiirn.,  1823,  vi.,  p.  103,  t.  8. 
Hooker  &  Greville,  Ic.  Fil.,  t.  82  (right-hand  figure).  —  Hooker, 
Fl.  Bor.  Am.,  ii.,  p.  265.  —  Toruey,  Flora  of  New  York,  ii.,  p.  507. 
—  Gray,  Manual,  ed.  i.,  p.  635;  cd.  v.,  p.  671.  —  Milde,  Nov. 
Act.  Acad.  Nat.  Cur.,  xxvi.,  ii.,  p.  664,  t.  49,  50,  figs.  138-174 
(t.  54,  fig.  204,  epidermis);  Fil.  Eur.  ct  Ad.,  p.  197;  Botr. 
Monogr.,  p.  137,  t.  8,  fig.  9;  t.  9,  figs.  4,  16  (details).  —  Daven- 
port, Notes  on  Botrychium  Simplex,  p.  5,  etc.,  t.  i. 

Botrychium  Virginicum,  var.  (?)  simplex,  Gray,  Manual,  ed.  iii.,  p.  602. 

Botrychium  Kanncnbergii,  "  Klinsmann,  in  Bot.  Zeitung,  1852,  p.  37!:."  — 
"  Lascii,  in  Bot.  Zeitung,  1856,  p.  606"  (Milde). 

The  following  varieties  are  given  by  Milde  in  "  Botrychiorum  Mono- 
graphia : "  — 


i  1 


laa 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


y, 


\V 


I.I 


Var.  sim/>/ictssimum,  LAscir.  —  "  Plant  eleven  lines  to  two  and  three- 
fourths  inches  high.  Sterile  lamina  two  lines  long  besides  the  petiole, 
elliptical  or  obovate,  entire,  the  base  cordate  or  narrowed  into  the  petiole  ; 
spike  composed  of  three  to  six  sporangia." 

\'ar.  iiicisum,  Mildk.  —  "Plant  two  inches  or  more  high.  Sterile 
lamina  ovate  or  elliptical,  incised,  as  much  as  nine  lines  long  besides  the 
petiole  ;  the  lobes  one  or  two  pairs.     The  common  form." 

Var.  sitbcomposi/iim,  Lascii.  —  "  Sterile  lamina  ovate-rotund  ;  primary 
segments  three  or  four  pairs,  the  two  or  three  upper  pairs  sessile,  contigu- 
ous, nearly  entire  or  inci.sed,  the  lowest  pair  remote,  narrowed  at  the  base 
into  petioles.     A  less  common  form." 

\'ar.  compositum,  Lasch.  —  "Sterile  lamina  up  to  one  inch  long,  ter- 
nate,  or  composed  of  three  segments  like  the  sterile  lamina  of  var. 
incisiim.    Very  rare." 

\'ar.  angus/itm,  Milde.  —  "  Sterile  lamina  oblong,  up  to  six  lines  long 
besides  the  petiole,  segments  two  pairs,  remote,  erect-spreading,  sub- 
spathulate  from  a  narrower  base." 

\ar. /a//ax,  Mii.de.  —  "  Sterile  lamina  above  the  middle  of  the  piant ; 
otherwise  as  in  var.  incisum," 

Hab.  —  In  pastures  and  on  hillsides  from  New  Brunswick  and  New 
England  westward  to  Lake  Superior,  Wyoming  Territory,  and  California ; 
also  in  Northern  Europe. 

Description.  —  Plant  of  small  size,  varying  in  my  speci- 
mens from  barely  an  inch  high  to  seven  inches,  but  commonly 
about  four  inches  high.  The  short  root-stock  is  erect,  as  in  the 
rest  of  the  species  of  Botrychium,  and  bears  at  the  top  a  peculiar 
bud,  such  as  is  described  at  p.  30  of  this  work.  In  the  present 
species,  this  bud  is  usually  enclosed  in  the  dried  sheathing  bases 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


123 


of  the  stalks  of  several  former  years,  giving  it  an  almost  bulbous 
appearance.  Mr.  Davenport  notices  *  that  both  the  sterile  and 
fertile  segments  are  perfectly  straight  in  the  bud,  and  that  the 
latter  is  smooth,  as  it  is  in  all  our  species  except  B.  tcniatum 
and  B.  Virgiuianum.  The  common  stem  is  usually  very  short, 
forming  only  from  one-twelfth  to  one-fourth  of  the  whole  height 
of  the  plant :  but  it  is  occasionally  longer  in  proportion ;  and  in 
some  of  the  specimens  collected  by  Macoun  near  Lake  Superior, 
and  in  a  few  of  Mrs.  Barnes's  fine  specimens  from  Northern  New 
York,  the  common  stalk  forms  fully  one-half  of  the  total  length 
of  the  plant.  In  Milde's  var.  fallax,  the  common  stalk  is  more 
than  half.  The  whole  plant  is  fleshy,  —  almost  as  much  so  as 
in  B.  Ltinaria,  and  decidedly  more  so  than  in  B.  lanccolatutn  and 
B.  matyicariafoliiim.  The  sterile  segment  is  distinctly  petioled, 
the  stalk  being  from  one-fourth  to  three-fourths  as  long  as  the 
segment  itself,  rarely  even  equalling  it.  In  very  small  plants  the 
sterile  segment  is  but  three  or  four  lines  long,  stalk  included  :  it 
is  then  roundish-obovate,  and  nearly  or  quite  entire  (var.  simpii- 
cissimum)..  In  plants  a  little  larger  it  is  more  ovate  in  shape, 
and  three-  to  five-  lobed  (var.  incisum).  It  becomes  ampler  in 
dimensions,  —  nine   to   twelve  lines  long,  —  and  more  decidedly 

*  Sec  an  admirable  paper  by  this  excellent  pteridologist  on  "Vernation  in 
Botrychia,"  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  Torrey  Botanical  Club  for  January,  1878.  He 
discusses  very  carefully  the  differences  in  vernation  in  our  several  Botrychia,  and 
Kivcs  also  a  concise  statement  of  the  distinctions  which  he  has  observed,  illus- 
trating them  by  seveia!  figures  from  Mi.  luiicrtini's  pencil.  I  find  that  on  p.  39, 
supra,  I  have  not  given  Dr.  Milde  sufficient  credit  for  his  observations  on  the 
buds  of  this  genus. 


ill 


124 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


(I . 

t,  1 


I!    iiHli 


4^ 


' 


' 


pinnatifid,  the  lowest  lobes  well  developed,  and  even  slightly 
incised,  in  var.  sub-compositum  ;  and  in  the  next  stage,  var.  com- 
positum,  it  is  decidedly  ternate,  and  consists  of  three  stalked 
ovatc-oblong  divisions,  which  are  pinnately  lobed  or  incised.  Var. 
aiigustum  is  simply  a  slender  form,  drawn  out,  perhaps,  by  grow- 
ing in  an  unusually  moist  and  shady  place.  The  sterile  segment 
is  rounded  at  the  apex,  as  are  all  the  divisions  and  lobes. 

The  veins  are  dichotomous,  or  forking.  The  midrib  of  the 
sterile  segment  usually  contains  two  slender  vascular  threads, 
and  from  these  the  veins  for  the  lateral  lobes  branch  off  some 
little  distance  below  the  insertion  of  these  lobes.  The  vein  for 
each  lobe  forks  just  at  the  beginning  of  the  narrowed  base  of 
the  lobe,  and  continues  to  branch  dichotomously ;  so  that  the  lobe 
is  well  supplied  with  vcinlcts,  but  has  no  one  special  midvein. 

The  fertile  segment  considerably  overtops  the  sterile,  and 
varies,  according  to  the  size  of  the  plant,  from  a. simple  spike  to  a 
fairly  bipinnate  panicle.  The  sporangia  are  commonly  somewhat 
crowded,  though  more  so  in  the  shorter  and  more  compound 
forms  of  the  plant  than  in  the  slender  and  drawn-out  specimens. 
All  the  Botrychia  occasionally  produce  a  few  sporangia,  or  even 
a  complete  panicle,  from  some  usually  sterile  portion  of  the 
plant ;  and  B.  simplex  is  no  exception  to  this  rule.  The  panicle 
may  fork  in  the  middle,  or  be  divided  down  to  its  insertion  on 
the  common  stem ;  or  a  second  panicle  may  be  borne  on  the 
sterile  segment ;  or  even  some  particular  lobe  of  the  sterile  seg- 
ment may  bear  a  few  sporangia.  The  spores  are  the  largest  of 
the  genus,  and  are  thickly  dotted  with  minute  points. 


i' 


M' 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


"5 


Mr.  Davenport  has  sufficiently  established  the  probability 
that  some  of  the  specimens  on  which  President  Hitchcock 
founded  this  species  were  really  young  plants  of  B.  matncaricc- 
folium :  but  the  original  figure  and  description  point  plainly  to  the 
B.  simplex  of  recent  authors ;  and  two  of  the  Conway  plants, 
which  were  sent  me  from  President  Hitchcock's  collection  some 
years  ago,  are  unmistakable  simplex.  One  of  them,  with  a  per- 
fectly simple  sterile  segment  placed  just  below  the  middle  of 
the  plant,  is  represented  at  Fig.  2  of  our  Plate  XVH, :  the 
other,  about  the  same  size,  has  a  three-lobed  sterile  segment 
near  the  base  of  the  plant. 

This  fern  was  very  scantily  represented  in  American  herbaria 
until  about  thirteen  years  ago,  when  Professor  J.  A.  Paine  began 
to  collect  it  in  Oneida  County,  New  York,  and  Professor  Sidney 
I.  Smith  brought  fine  specimens  from  Maine.  At  a  time  when 
B.  lanccolatum  and  B.  inatncaricefolium  were  not  recognized  as 
American  plants,  every  little  Botrychium  was  thought  to  be  the 
simplex ;  and  hence  the  descriptions  given  of  it  in  the  various 
manuals  of  botany  were  made  wide  enough  to  include  the  other 
species  also.  But  the  character  given  by  Dr.  Torrey,  in  "The 
Flora  of  New  York,"  is  very  clear :  "  Frond  from  the  lower  part 
of  the  scape,  oblong,  irregularly  three-  to  four-  lobed  or  pinnati- 
fid,  with  the  segments  roundish,  obovate,  cuneate,  and  entire  or 
somewhat  incised  ;  spike  pinnate." 

In  Dr.  Milde's  various  pajjcrs,  and  especially  in  Mr.  Daven- 
port's monograph  on  Botrychium  simplex,  may  be  fountl  very  full 
accounts  of  the  history  of  this  little  fern,  together  with  a  careful 


i 


>  ri 


136 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


I:  < 

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If 

1; 

It 

i' 

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1^ 

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if: 


III 


review  of  its  relationship  to  other  allied  species,  and  its  dis- 
tinctions from  them.  From  B.  Lunnria  it  is  distinguished  by 
the  more  decidedly  petioled  sterile  segment,  commonly  placed  low 
down  on  the  plant,  so  that  it  seems  almost  to  grow  separately 
from  the  root-stock.  The  tendency  towards  the  production  of  a 
ternatc  sterile  segment  in  well-developed  plants  also  separates  it 
from  B.  Lnnaria.  "From  B.  lanceolatitm  and  B.  niain'caricc/o- 
liuiii,  the  same  basal  or  nearly  basal  position  of  the  sterile  seg- 
ment distinguishes  it ;  as  docs  also  the  flabellatcly-dichotomous, 
rather  than  sub-pinnate,  character  of  its  venation.  From  all  of 
them  the  perfectly  straight  vernation  and  the  character  of  the 
spores  also  separate  it  satisfactorily. 

Stations  for  this  fern  have  been  reported  in  Maine,  Massa- 
chusetts, Vermont,  Northern  New  York  (abundant  and  fine  speci- 
mens, showing  all  or  nearly  all  the  forms,  have  been  collected  and 
freely  distributed  by  Mrs.  Barnes  and  Rev.  J.  Herman  Wibbe '),  and 
in  the  Highlands,  on  Long  Island  (Mr.  E.  S.  Miller),  near  Lake 
Superior  (Mr.  Macoun),  ;n  Yellowstone  Park  (Dr.  Parry),  and  in 
several  places,  at  high  elevations,  in  the  Sierra  of  California  (Mr. 
J.  Muir,  Miss  Pelton,  Dr.  Gray).  The  Western  specimens  have  a 
stocky,  condensed  habit,  and  belong  to  the  more  compound  forms 
of  the  species. 

While  I  have  given  Dr.  Milde's  "varieties,"  with  translations 
of  his  characters,  I  am  entirely  of  the  opinion  expressed  by  Mr. 

'  Dr.  Wibbc's  plants  arc  from  a  sandy  liill,  called  Lewis's  I?luff,  on  llio  shore  of 
Lake  Ontario,  six  miles  west  of  Oswego.  Mrs.  IJarnes's  specimens  were  mostly  col- 
lected in  what  is  called  "  The  John  Brown  Tract." 


ir! 


w 
n- 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


197 


Davenport,  that  the  form  called  "  compositum  "  is  the  true  form 
of  the  perfectly  matured  plant,  and  that  all  the  ochcr  forms  are 
merely  undeveloped  conditions,  anil  do  not  present  those  perma- 
nent differences  which  arc  characteristic  of  var/e/ies  in  the  proper 
sense  of  the  term. 

Plato  XV'II.,  Figs.  1-8.—  Bolrychitim  simplex. 

Fig.  I.  —  A  plant  from  ke  •.  J.  M.  \\'il)bc,  representing  var.  sub-cont' 
positum :  the  sterile  segmcni  h.igher  u[)  than  usual,  and  the  panicle  forked. 

Fig.  2.  —  \'ar.  simpHcissimum,  A  f)Iant  sent  from  President  Hitch- 
cock's herbarium,  collected  in  Conway,  Massacluisctts. 

I'ig.  3.  —  \'ar.  subcomposHiim,  from  Dr.  Wibbc.  A  plant  of  unusual 
stature,  l)earing  a  second  spike  rising  from  near  tlie  base  of  the  sterile 
segment. 

Fig.  4.  —  Var.  iiicisiiin.     A  specimen  in  Mr.  Davenport's  herbarium. 

Fig.  5. — The  fully-developed  typical  form,  var.  compositum.  From 
Yellowstone  Park,  Dr.  Parry. 

F"ig.  6.  —  A  bud,  the  olil  sheathing  stalk  removed,  showing  the  erect 
vernation. 

Fig-  7-  —  A  lobe  of  a  sterile  segment,  showing  the  forked  veinlcts. 

Fig.  S.  —  A  spore.  Figs.  6  and  7  arc  moderately  enlarged  ;  Fig.  8, 
highly  magnified.     The  others  are  of  the  natural  size. 


'' 


mi : 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


i«9 


Pi^TO   XVII.  — Fk:s.   9-14. 


HOTRYCIIIUM    MATRICARI/IU'OLIUM,  Al.  Praun. 
Matricary  Grape- Fern. 

« 

PoTRYCiiiUM  MATRiCARi/i'i'OLiuM :  —  Plant  two  to  twclve 
inches  high,  moderately  fleshy ;  sterile  segment  lx)rne  high  up  on 
the  common  stalk,  distinctly  pctiolcd  or  rarely  sessile,  membrana- 
ceous, oblong,  ovate,  or  even  deltoid  in  outline,  in  simpler  forms 
pinnately  divided  or  lobed  into  a  few  nearly  equal  oblong  or  ovate 
or  rounded  entire  or  crenated  obtuse  lobes,  but  in  larger  forms 
twice  pinnatifid,  the  primary  divisions  several  pairs,  the  lowest 
ones  largest,  and  all  pinnatifid  into  oblong-ovate  toothed  and 
obtuse  lobes ;  midvein  of  the  lobes  usually  distinct,  and  bearing 
on  each  side  forking  veinlcts ;  fertile  segment  short-stalked,  vary- 
ing from  a  simple  spike  to  an  ample  panicle  of  racemed  spo- 
rangia. 

Dotyychium  malricaria-foliiim,  Ai..  Braun,  In  Doell,  Rhcinische  Flora,  p.  24 
(1843).  Kocii,  Syn.  V\.  Germ.,  cd.  ii.,  p.  972  ;  ed.  iii.,  p.  729. — 
Mu.oE,  Nov.  Act.  Acad,  Nat.  Cur.,  xxvi.,  ii.,  p.  679,  t.  51,  figs. 
182-1S8,  t.  52,  figs.  189-196,  p.  761,  t.  55,  figs.  5-8;  Fil.  Eur.  et 
Atlant.,  p.  195  ;  Hotr.  Monogr.,  p.  123,  t.  8,  fig.  2,  t.  9,  figs.  7,  17. 

—  H.  Hunt,  in  HuIIetin  of  the  Torrcy  Hotanical  Club,  iii.,  j).  33. 

—  Davkntort,  Notes  on  Botr.  simplex,  p.  17,  t.  2,  figs.  7,  8,  10-12, 
30,  32-43  ;  and  in  Bull.  Torr.  Club,  vi.,  p.  196,  etc.,  t.  i,  fig.  6. 


I' 


!  1:7! 


I  t 


130 


FF.RNS  or   NORril   AMERICA. 


Botrychium  rtitaccnm,  Swaut/,  "in  Scliradcrs  Journ.  Bot.  1800,  ii.,  p.  no, 

in  part;"  Syn.  l'"il.,  p.  171,  in  part.  —  Nkwman,  History  of  IVitish 

'    Ferns,  cd.  iii.,  p.  320.  —  Mooki:,  Index  Fiiicum,  p.  211.     |  Here 

may  he  found  aljiindant  references  to  works  in  wiiich  tliis  plant 

is  referreil  to  or  descriljcd.] 

Botrychium  simplex,  IIookkk  &  Gkkvii.i.k,  Ic.  Til.,  t.  82,  left-hand  figure. 
[Tile  /)*.  simplex  of  American  writers  generally  included  this  spe- 
cies with  the  true?  simphx\\ 

Botrychium  simplex,  var.  hipinnatijidum,  Viv.\\,  in  Amer.  Nat.  Aug.  1S75. 

Botrychium  uegleclum,\^oovt,  Class-Book  of  Hotany,  cd.  of  1851,  p.  635 
(and  perhaps  earlier  editions  which  I  have  not  seen). 

Had.  —  Dark,  wet  woods,  and  in  bods  of  moss  along  rivulets:  from 
New  Hampshire,  Professor  Wood,  Miss  Haskki.i.,  (i.  \\.  I'l  inam  ;  \'(!rmont, 
Mrs.  I,.  V.  Morgan,  C.  G.  Pkinc;i.f,  ;  and  r>lassachusetts,  Rev.  H.  G.  Jrsip, 
etc. ;  to  New  York,  especially  Northern  New  York,  Y..  Hi  n  r,  Professor 
Paink,  ^Irs.  Baknks,  etc. ;  Pennsylvania,  Professor  Pourrk;  and  Lake  .Supe- 
rior, H.  G11.1.MAN,  ISI.\coi.\  ;  Dutchess  County,  New  ^'ork,  L.  H.  Hov.siuivr. 
Canada,  Unalaska,  and  luirope,  from  Westrobothnia  to  Italy. 

DnsCRii'Tiox.  —  Thi.s  species  of  ^n-apc-fcrn  or  moonwort  is 
commonly  a  somewhat  larger  plant  than  the  kind  last  descril)ed. 
Though  the  smallest  specimens  arc  only  two  inches  high,  yet  the 
average  height  of  fair  specimens  is  six  or  eight  inches,  and  a  few 
in  my  collection  are  fidly  ten  inches  high ;  while  Mr.  Davenport 
says,  '  two  to  twelve  inches  high,  rarely  more."  As  in  B.  lanceo- 
lafuiii,  to  which  this  species  is  most  nearly  related,  the  greater 
part  of  the  whole  height  consists  of  the  common  stalk,  though 
the  '•elative. proportion  of  common  stalk  is  subject  to  considera- 
ble variation.     The   stalk   is    rarely  as  little  as  one-half  of  the 


%m-^ 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


131 


whole,  more  commonly  two-thirds  to  three-fourths, and  sometimes 
as  much  as  five-sixths.  It  is  either  slender  or  moderately  stout, 
usually  fleshy,  and  somewhat  enlarged  at  the  base,  where  it 
encloses  the  bud  for  the  growth  of  the  next  year  or  two.  The 
bud  is  smooth,  and  in  it  "  the  apex  of  the  fertile  frond  is  bent 
downward  toward  the  sterile  frond,  which  clasps  it  with  its  side 
divisions,  and  bends  its  apex  downwards  over  the  whole"  {Daven- 
port). The  sterile  segment  is  extremely  variable  in  shape,  so  that 
Milde  has  based  several  "  varieties  "  on  the  diversities  which  it 
presents ;  but  as  these  seem  to  be  only  indicative  of  stages  of 
development,  and  not  variations  transmissible  to  successors,  they 
are,  perhaps,  best  omitted.  In  the  smallest  examples  the  sterile 
segment  is  scarcely  three  lines  long,  obovate-cuneate,  and  slightly 
three-  to  five-  toothetl  along  the  sides.  Such  specimens  were  for 
a  long  time  marked  B.  simplex  in  American  herbariums,  and  it  is 
very  probable  that  a  portion  of  President  Hitchcock's  original 
plants  were  of  this  sort.  In  somewhat  larger  plants  the  sterile 
segment  is  one  or  two  inches  long,  oblong-ovate  in  outline,  and  has 
a  petiole  a  third  of  its  own  length.  The  petiole  is  continued  up- 
wards into  an  often  narrowly-winged  midrib,  which  bears  on  each 
side  three,  four,  or  five  ovate  or  oblong-ovate  obtuse  lobes,  more 
or  less  toothed  or  incised,  but  nearly  all  of  one  size.  This  is  the 
commonest  form  of  the  species  in  America,  and  is  represented  by 
the  figure  in  Hooker  and  Greville's  Icones  Filicum,  cited  above. 
Professor  Wood's  B.  iicglectuni^  a  specimen  of  which  he  mos: 
kindly  placed  at  my  disposal,  is  also  this  form  of  the  species. 

'   It  sliDiilil  bo  noticed  tluit  Professor  Wood  was  the  first  American  botanist  to 
separate  this  species  from  B.  simplex. 


m 


13a 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


:,i«ill 


In  the  most  fiilly-dcvclopcd  form  the  sterile  segment  is  trian- 
gular in  outline,  about  three  inches  long,  and  two  and  a  half  inches 
wide  at  the  base.  There  are  about  five  pairs  of  primary  divis- 
ions, the  lowest,  of  course,  much  the  largest,  and  the  others 
successively  smaller.  These  lowest  divisions  are  an  inch  to  an 
inch  and  a  half  long,  six  to  eight  lines  wide,  and  are  pinnately 
divided  into  four  to  six  pairs  of  oblong  or  ovate  more  or  less 
toothed  obtuse  lobes.  The  next  two  or  three  primary  divisions 
are  also  pinnately  divided  ;  but  the  lobes  are  smaller,  and  either 
obscurely  toothed  or  entire,  and  the  uppermost  primary  divisions 
are  merely  toothed  lobes.  Thus  the  sterile  segment  is  broadly 
triangular  and  bipinnatifid.  The  fertile  segment  is  also  ample, 
and  has  the  lower  branches  nearly  as  long  as  the  central  portion. 

The  lobes  have  a  rather  faint  midvein  ;  which,  however,  is 
lost  in  the  forking  oblique  veinlets  about  the  middle  of  the  lobe. 
The  lowest  veinlets  separate  from  the  midvein  at  the  very  base 
of  the  lobe,  or  even  below  it  in  the  rachis.  The  spores  are  thickly 
sprinkled  with  roundish  warts. 

The  name  B.  rtitaccniii  was  applied  by  Swartz,  mainly  to  a 
form  of  B.  tcniatitiii,  but  incidentally  to  this  species  also.  It 
was  to  remedy  the  resulting  confusion  that  Professor  Braun  pro- 
posed for  the  present  plant  the  new  specific  appellation  of  luntri- 
cai'ioidcs,  referring  to  the  resemblance  of  the  sterile  segment  to 
the  lca\es  of  Matricaria  Parthcniuui  (Linniuus).  It  was,  how- 
e\er,  according  to  Koch,  as  long  ago  as  167S,  called  Lunaria  ra- 
ceniosa  minor  Mat ricarice  folio  by  Breyne  (Cent.,  p.  184,  t.  94). 

In  Dutchess  County,  New  York,  as  Mr.  Hoysradt  informs  us. 


:t    \ 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


133 


the  matricary  grape-fern  fruits  in  the  latter  part  of  June  or  early 
in  July,  and  the  empty  sporangia  are  shrivelled  by  the  time  that 
B.  lanccolatjim  is  mature.  Other  persons  make  a  similar  report ; 
so  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  species  now  under  consid- 
eration is  from  two  weeks  to  a  month  earlier  in  maturing  than 
the  other. 

Thin  species  is,  however,  more  closely  related  to  B.  lanccola- 
tuin  than  to  any  other  of  our  grape-ferns  :  and,  indeed,  the  two 
are  united  as  one  species  by  several  authors  of  high  reputation; 
as,  for  instance,  by  Mr.  Baker  in  the  "  Species  Filicuni,"  and  by 
Moore  in  his  various  writings.  To  redeem  the  promise  made 
on  p.  36  of  the  present  work,  the  differential  characters  of  the 
two  species  are  indicated  in  parallel  columns:  — 


B.  LANCEOLATUM. 

Sterile  segment  sessile,  spreading 
at  a  wide  angle,  deltoid  even  in 
small  plants. 

Divisions  and   lobes    lanceolate  and 

sub-acute. 
Midvcin  of  lobes  continuous  nearly 

to  the  apex. 
Panicle  with  a  very  short  stalk. 


"  Bud  wilii    the    fertile  segment   re- 
curved   its  whole  length,  and  the 


B.  MATRICARL'EFOLIUM. 

Sterile  segment  petioled,  diverging 
but  little,  and  embracing  the  fer- 
tile when  )oung  ;  oblong,  and  only 
in  the  largest  plants  deltoid. 

Divisions  and  lobes  oblong  or  ovate 
and  oljtuse. 

Midvcin  dissipated  in  the  middle 
of  the  lobes. 

Panicle  with  a  stalk  usually  half  as 
long  as  the  sterile  segment,  and 
sometiines  longer  than  it. 

"  Buil  with  the  aj)ex  of  both  seg- 
ments   turned    down,    the    sterile 


"   ij^rc: 


•si 


hi 


i\ 


1  ( . 

I 


134 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


shorter  sterile  frond  reclined  upon 
it"  i^Davcnporf). 

Time  of  fruiting,  July  and  August. 


segment  clasping  the  fertile,  and 
its  apex  overlapping  the  whole  " 
{^Davcnporf) . 
Time,   two    or   three   weeks   earlier 
than  the  other. 


Plate  XVII.,  Figs.  9-14.  —  Botrychiiiin  malricaria-foliutn. 

Fig.  9  is  a  plant  of  small  size,  though  not  so  small  as  is  sometimes 
seen.  It  is  from  Bethlehem,  New  Hampshire,  collected  by  Mr.  Granville 
B.  Putnam. 

Fig.  10,  a  large  and  fully-developed  specimen  from  near  Utica,  New 
York,  collected  by  Mr.  Fdwin  Hunt. 

Fig.  1 1  shows  the  commonest  form.  The  specimen  is  from  Mrs. 
Hathaway,  who  collected  it  in  Otsego  County,  New  York. 

I'ig.  12  represents  the  vernation.  Fig.  13  the  venation,  of  a  roundish- 
ovate  segment,  and  Fig.  14  a  spore. 

More  decidedly  ternate  foi-ms  than  Fig.  10  have  been  found  in  Lewis 
County,  New  York,  by  Mrs.  Barnes,  some  of  them  with  the  sterile  segment 
bearing  scattered  sporangia. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


>35 


Plate  XVIII. 

ADIANTUM   PE DATUM,   Linn/eus. 

American   Maiden-hair. 

Adiantum  pedatum  :  —  Root-stock  creeping,  scaly,  and  copi- 
ously rooting ;  stalks  scattered,  a  foot  or  more  high,  dark-brown 
and  polished,  forked  at  the  top ;  fronds  six  to  fifteen  inches  broad, 
membranaceous,  smooth,  spreading  nearly  horizontally,  composed 
of  several  (six  to  fourteen)  slender  divisions  radiating  from  the 
outer  side  of  the  recurved  branches  of  the  stalk,  and  bearing 
numerous  oblong  or  triangular-oblong  short-stalked  pinnules  hav- 
ing the  lower  margin  entire  and  often  slightly  concave,  the  base 
parallel  with  the  polished  hairlikc  rachis,  the  upper  margin  lobed 
or  cleft  and  bearing  a  few  oblong-lunate  or  transversely  linear 
reflexed  involucres ;  sporangia  on  the  inner  surface  of  the  involu- 
cres (as  in  all  Adiantd),  borne  on  the  extended  apices  of  the  free 
forking  veinlets,  which  proceed  from  a  principal  vein  closely 
parallel  to  the  lower  margin  of  the  pinnule. 

Adianttim pedatum,  LiNN/EUS,  Sp.  PI.,  p.  1557.  —  Thunberg,  Flora  Japonica, 
P-  339-  —  SwARTZ,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  121.  —  Sciikuhr,  Krypt.  Gevv., 
p.  107,  t.  115. — WiLLDENow,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  438.  —  Micn.\ux,  Fl.  Bor. 
Am.,  ii.,  p.  263.  —  PuRsii,  Fl.  Am.  Sept.,  ii.,  p.  670.  —  Torrev,  Fl. 
of  N.  Y.,  ii.,  p.  4S7.  —  GuAV,  Manual.  —  Ruprecht,  Distrib.  Crypt. 
Vase,  in  Imp.  Ross.,  p.  49. —  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  ii.,  p.  28.  —  Brack- 
ENRiDGE,  Filices  of  the  U.  S.  Expl.  Exped.,  p.  100.  —  Eaton,  in 


is; 


i|: 


f 


f 


11 


l!ii  , 


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pit' 


I3« 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


Parry's  Expcd.  to  Japan,  ii.,  p.  329.  —  Maximowict:,  Priinitin:  Fl. 
Amurcnsis,  p.  341.  —  Mi;Tri:Mt's,  I'll.  Ilort.  IJps.,  p.  47  ;  Prolu- 
sio  Fl.  Japon.  in  Ann.  Mus.  Hot.  Lugd.-natav.,  iii.,  p.  171. — 
HooKF.K  iS:  n.\Ki;R,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  125.  —  Mikdk,  Fil.  Fur.  ct  All., 
p.  31.  —  Keyserung,  Gen.  Acliantum,  in  Mem.  Acad.  I'ctrop.,  .scr. 
vli.,  xxii.,  No.  2,  pp.  5,  28. 

Adiaiitum  Amcn'ca/tum,  Cornutu.s,  Canad.  PI.  Hist.,  p.  7,  t.  6  (1635). 

Afaidcn  Hair,  or  Cappcllus  veneris  vcrus.  Josselyn,  New  Englands  Rarities 
Discovered,  p.  55  (1672). 

Adianlum  frondc  supra-dccomposita  bi partita,  foliis  partialibus  alter nis, 
foUolis  trapczifonnibus  obtusis,  Guonovius,  Flora  Virginica  (1739), 
p.  123.  (For  other  ancient  references  see  Linn/EUs,  as  quoted 
above.) 

Adiantum  borcalc,  Presl,  Tent.  Pterid.,  p.  158. 

Had.  —  In  rich,  moist  woods,  especially  among  rocks.  Common  from 
New  Hrunswick  and  Canada  southward  to  Central  Alabama,  Professor 
Fugeni;  a.  Smith,  and  westward  to  Lake  Superior,  Wisconsin,  ami  Arkan- 
sas. Also  in  Utah,  California,  Oregon,  British  Columbia,  the  islands  of 
Alaska,  Kamtschatka,  Japan,  Mantchooria,  and  the  Himalayan  provinces  of 
India.  Ruprecht  speaks  of  specimens  from  Newfoundland,  and  Professor 
Gray  informs  me  that  it  e.xists  in  Ue  La  Pylaie's  collection  from  that  island. 

Description.  —  The  root-stock  is  elongated  and  creeping.  It 
is  about  the  diameter  of  a  goose-quill,  is  covered  with  minute  ovate 
scales,  roots  copiously  from  beneath  and  along  the  sides,  and 
produces  fronds  from  the  right  and  left  sides  alternately.  The 
stalks  are  usually  from  a  foot  to  fifteen  inches  high,  and  from 
half  a  line  to  a  line  in  thickness.  When  very  young,  they  bear 
a  few  scattered  narrow  scales ;    but  these  soon  fall  off,  leaving 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMKRICA. 


«37 


minute  pointed  scars.  The  mature  stalic  is  roundish  in  section, 
the  convexity  beinjf  greatest  on  the  siile  which  corresponds  to  the 
under  surface  of  the  frond.  The  two  convexities,  anterior  ami 
posterior,  are  separated  by  two  obscure  angles  or  ridges,  whicli 
extend  the  whole  length  of  the  stalk.  The  anterior,  or  flatter, 
convex  surface  is  nearly  black,  while  the  other  side  is  a  dark  pur- 
plish brown.  The  fibro-vascular  bundle  is  U-shaped  near  the 
base  of  the  stalk  ;  but  higher  up  it  is  more  like  a  broad,  open  V  ; 
and  just  below  the  forking  of  the  stalk  it  separates  into  two  por- 
tions. The  two  branches  of  the  stalk  diverge  at  an  angle  of 
about  fifty  degrees,  and  rise  obliquely,  gracefully  recurving  till 
they  nearly  meet  again.  From  the  outer  side  of  the  curve  each 
branch  sends  out  from  two  to  seven  slender  diverging  branchlets, 
which  are  the  rachises  of  the  pinnae.  The  branchlets  nearest  the 
forking  of  the  stalk  are  from  four  to  fifteen  inches  long,  those 
more  remote  successively  shorter.  Thus  the  whole  frond  is  from 
five  or  six  to  fifteen  or  eighteen  inches  broad,  and,  while  some- 
what funnel-form  in  the  centre,  radiates  nearly  horizontally  towards 
the  circumference.  A  pressed  specimen  can  give  but  little  idea 
of  its  graceful  position. 

The  pinnules,  or  leaflets,  arc  from  six  to  twelve  lines  long,  and 
three  or  four  broad,  and  arc  placed  alternately  on  the  rachises  of 
the  pinn.T.  They  are  very  numerous,  seldom  fewer  than  twelve 
on  each  side  of  one  of  the  middle  (or  lower)  rachises,  and  in  large 
fronds  sometimes  as  many  as  forty  on  each  side.  The  outer 
rachises  bear  fewer  and  fewer  pinnules,  and  the  outcrinost  of  even 
a  very  large  frond  will  not  have  more  than  eight  or  ten  on  each 


I 


i    vi 


llli 


138 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


I'Vi'i 


Ml 


side.  They  arc  attached  to  the  rachis  by  a  very  short  and  slender 
stalk.  Their  usual  form  is  diinidiate-oblonj;  ;  that  is,  they  appear 
as  if  cut  in  two  longitudinally,  and  the  lower  half  removed,  so 
that  the  lower  edge  is  entire,  and  straight,  or  often  slightly  hol- 
lowed ;  the  base,  or  edge  nearest  the  rachis,  is  also  straight  and 
entire ;  it  is  parallel  with  the  rachis,  or  even  overlaps  it  a  little ; 
the  upper  edge  is  more  or  less  lobed  or  incised,  but  in  general 
nearly  parallel  with  the  lower,  and  the  end  is  rounded  and  slightly 
lobcd.  The  point  of  attachment  is,  of  course,  at  the  angle  between 
the  lower  and  basal  edges.  The  terminal  pinnule  of  each  pinna, 
and  the  basal  one,  which,  indeed,  very  often  proceeds  from  one 
of  the  recurved  branches  jus/  bcloic  the  origin  of  the  pinna,  are 
broadly  cuneate  or  transversely  oblong  in  shape,  the  two  sides 
which  meet  at  the  point  of  attachment  being  equal ;  and  the  few 
pinnules  near  the  basal  one  are  shorter  and  more  triangular  than 
the  middle  ones.  The  texture  is  delicately  membranaceous,  but 
elastic ;  the  color  is  a  lively  green,  and  both  surfaces  are  very 
smooth.  The  upper  surface  appears  to  be  destitute  of  stomata ; 
and  this  may  be  the  reason  why  water  will  not  adhere  to  the  pin- 
nules, but  cither  falls  off,  or  stands  in  spheroids  ready  to  fall.  The 
veins  are  free :  in  the  symmetrical  basal  and  apical  pinnules  the 
veinlcts  fork  repeatedly  from  the  very  base ;  but  in  the  oblong 
middle  pinnules  there  is  r.  faint  principal  vein  running  close  to  the 
lower  edge;  and  from  this  the  veinlets  diviTge  obliquely,  and  fork 
about  three  times  before  reaching  the  superior  margin.  The  inc's- 
ions  of  the  superior  margin  arc  usually  very  narrow,  and  extend 
only  to  about  one-third  of  the  breadth  of  the  pinnule  ;  but  in  some 


.   -y 

ii 
I  if 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


'39 


specimens  from  California  and  Oregon  they  are  wider  and  consid- 
eral)ly  deeper.  The  lobes  are  from  four  to  six  or  seven  in  num- 
ber; in  sterile  fronds  they  are  minutely  toothed  at  the  entl ;  but 
in  the  comuiuncr  fertile  fninds  they  are  reflexed  and  chanj^^ed  in 
character,  so  as  to  form  somewhat  crescent-shaped  or  transversely 
elongated  involucres  of  a  pale-brownish  color.  The  tips  of  the 
vfinlets  extend  into  these  involucres,  and  bear  the  sp<irangia  on 
the  under  or  inner  surface.  In  this  peculiarity  is  the  essential 
generic  character  of  Adianttim.  The  spores  of  thjjS  species  are 
spheroid-tetrahedral,  the  three  radiating  angles  marked  with  slen- 
der vitta?,  or  bands.  They  arc  mature  in  the  latter  part  of  summer ; 
but  the  fronds  remain  until  frost,  often  changing  from  green  to 
variegated  shades  of  brown. 

There  do  not  seem  to  be  any  well-marked  variations  in  this 
fern.  Ruprccht  has  a"  var.  Alcnticnm" the  Ad.  borealc  of  Prcsl, 
separated  mainly  on  account  of  its  smaller  size  and  fewer  parts. 

The  genus  Adiantum  contains  eighty-three  species,  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Baker's  estimate ;  but  this  number  is  reduced  to  sixty- 
seven  by  the  more  recent  and  very  careful  recension  of  Kcyser- 
ling.  The  species  vary  in  form  from  a  simple  and  reniform  frond 
an  inch  or  two  in  diameter  to  others  with  ample  tripinnate  and 
even  quadripinnatc  fronds.  The  species  with  distinctly  bipartite 
and  radiated  fronds  arc  Ad.  patens,  hispidulum,  and  fiabelhda- 
twn.  A.  patens  is  found  in  Mexico  and  Central  America.  It  is 
a  smaller  plant  than  A.pcdatuni,  and  has  deeply-sunken  reniform 
involucres.  The  other  two  occur  in  South-eastern  Asia,  the  his- 
pidulum  extending  to  Africa  and  to  New  Zealand,  and  the  fa- 


!!     .!S 


1i      I 


H.\ 


140 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


bellulatum  to  Japan :  the  former  has  hispid  surfaces  and  small 
roundish  involucres ;  and  the  latter  has  rusty-fibrillose  rachises, 
coriaceous  pinnules,  and  transversely  oblong  sub-confluent  involu- 
cres. Ad.  patens  follows  the  form  and  branching  of  our  fern 
very  closely ;  but  the  two  Old- World  species  often  depart  from  it, 
and  show  a  tendency  to  develop  branches  on  one  or  other  of  the 
longest  pinnae,  thus  indicating  an  approach  towards  a  pyramidal 
structure  of  'he  frond. 

The  remaining  Adianta  of  the  United  States  are  Ad.  Cn- 
pilliis- Veneris  (Linnasus),  found  from  North  Carolina  to  Califor- 
nia; Ad.  emarginatum  (Hooker),  which  is  the  Ad.  Chilense  of 
American  botanists,  but  not  of  Kaulfuss,  found  in  California  and 
Oregon ;  and  ^Id.  trichokpis  (Fee),  which  occurs  in  Texas  and 
California,  and  extends  southwards  to  Central  America. 

The  American  Maiden-hair  is  easily  cultivated,  and  will  grow 
very  freely  cither  in  a  shaded  corner  of  a  garden  or  in  the  house, 
and  is  perhaps  more  elegant  and  graceful  than  any  other  of  our 
ferns,  the  climbing-fern  scarcely  excepted.  Josselyn  evidently 
mistook  it  for  the  Venus-hair,  one  of  the  chief  ingredients  in  a 
syrup  which  was  formerly  a  famous  reniedy  for  nearly  all  ail- 
ments, and  said,  "  The  Apothecaries  for  shame  now  will  substi- 
tute PVall-Rite  no  more  for  Maiden  Hair,  since  it  grows  in  abun- 
dance in  New-England,  from  wiience  they  may  have  good  store." 

Mr.  Emerton's  figure  is  taken  from  a  living  plant,  and  shows  the  frond 
as  it  ,"..*pears  before  it  has  been  thttened  in  a  collector's  portfolio. 


m 


i. 


:iff 
( 


1 


-*! 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


141 


Plate  XIX. 

BLECHNUM   SERRULATUM,  Richard. 
Florida  Blechnum. 

Blechnum  SERRULATUM  :  —  Root-stock  creeping,  or  sub- 
erect,  woody,  covered  like  the  bases  of  the  stalks  with  fine  narrow 
fuscous-brown  chaff;  stalks  scattered  or  somewhat  clustered,  rigid 
and  nearly  smooth,  six  to  eighteen  inches  long ;  fronds  oblong- 
linear,  one  to  three  feet  long,  pinnate ;  pinnae  very  numerous,  ses- 
sile, joined  to  the  rachis  by  a  distinct  articulation,  coriaceous, 
smooth  and  glossy  above,  minutely  chaffy  beneath  along  the  mid- 
rib, finely  serrulate  along  the  margin,  the  terminal  one  distinct ; 
sterile  ones  elliptical  or  linear-oblong,  rounded  at  the  base,  and 
barely  pointed  at  the  apex ;  veins  oblique  to  the  midrib,  crowded, 
forked  at  the  base,  free ;  fertile  pinnas  narrower  and  more  acute, 
bearing  the  sporangia  on  a  special  receptacle  closely  parallel  to 
the  midrib  ;  involucres  attached  to  the  receptacle  outside  the 
sporangia,  free  along  the  inner  edge,  at  length  rcflexed. 

Blechniirn  scrridatutn,  RiaiARD,  in  "Act.  Soc.  Hist.  Nat.  Par.  i.,  p.  114."  — 
MiciiAU.x,  Fl.  Bor.  Am.,  ii.,  p.  264. — Swartz,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  113. — 
ScHKUMR,  Krypt.  Gcw.,  p.  100,  t.  108.  —  Wii.i.dknow,  Sp.  FI.,  v., 
p.  411.  —  PuRsii,  FI.  Am.  Sept.,  ii.,  p.  669.  —  MimxNiLS,  Fil. 
Hort.  Lips.,  p.  63.  —  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  iii.  p.  54.  —  E.\ton,  in 
Chapman's  Flora  of  .Southern  H.  S.,  p.  591.  —  Grisf.iiacii,  Fl. 
Brit.  \V.  I.  Is.,  p.  673.  —  Hooker  &l  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  186. — 
Bentham,  Fl.  Austral.,  vii.,  p.  739. 


■i\m 


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>  tit 


lb 


14a 


FERNS   OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


Bh'chnum  angusHfolium,  Willdenow,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  414. 

Blcchnum  calophyllum,  Langsdorff  &   Fischer,  Ic.  Fil.,  p.  20,   t.  23.— 

Willdenow,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  415.  —  Brackenridge,  Perns  of  U.  S. 

Expl.  Fxpcd.,  p.  132. 
Blcchnum  stagninum,  Raudi,  Fil.  Bras.,  p.  54,  t.  62. 
Blcchnum  striatum,  R.  Brown,  Prodr.,  p.  152.  —  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil..  iii.,  p. 

55-  t.  159- 
Bicchnopsis  scrrulata,  Presl,  Epim.  Bot.,  p.  119. 

Had.  —  Tn  wo«  places,  chiefly  along  str  ins  and  about  ponds,  appar- 
ently not  Hire  i)  '  uithem  part  of  Florida,  Michaux,  Buckley,  Bum- 
stead,  Palmer,  Gai.„.  . ,  c^^.  West  Indies  and  Central  America  to  Southern 
Brazil.     Also  in  Malacca  and  various  parts  of  Australia. 

Description.--  Fh'.-  root-stock  is  hard  and  woody,  at  least 
when  dried.  It  is  from  a  third  to  half  an  inch  thick,  and  creeps 
apparently  below  the  surface  of  the  ground,  but  occasionally  rises 
at  the  advancing  end.  It  is  covered  with  fine  fuscous-brown 
chaffy  scales,  which  also  ascend  the  stalks  a  short  distance.  The 
stalks  are  continuous  with  the  root-stock,  and  are  developed  from 
the  growing  extremity,  but  remain  in  position  while  the  root- 
stock  advances  a  few  inches  beyond  them.  They  are  commonly 
more  than  a  foot  high,  nearly  as  thick  as  a  writing-quill,  smooth, 
and  very  rigid.  There  is  a  deep  channel  extending  all  along  the 
anterior  side,  and  continuing  along  the  rachis  to  the  topmost 
pinna.  The  color  of  the  stalks  in  dried  specimens  is  a  palish 
fuscous-brown.  A  section  of  the  stalk  shows  about  five  sub- 
cylindrical  fibro-vascular  bundles  arranged  in  a  semicircle.  The 
fronds  in  the  Florida  specimens  are  from  a  foot  to  a  foot  and  a 


■> 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA.  1 43 

half  long ;  but  Hooker  gives  the  extreme  as  three  feet.  Their 
general  outline  is  oblong-linear,  tapering  somewhat  toward  the 
apex,  and  occasionally  a  little  toward  the  base  also.  They  curve 
away  from  the  erect  position  very  gracefully,  so  that  the  apex 
often  droops  a  little,  and,  growing  in  their  native  swamps,  must 
constitute  objects  of  great  beauty.  They  are  rigidly  coriaceous, 
glossy  above,  and  somewhat  paler  beneath,  and  simply  pinnate 
with  very  numerous  often  imbricated  sessile  pinnae,  which  are 
attached  to  the  rachis  by  an  evident  articulation,  and  leave  a 
slightly  elevated  ovate  scar  when  detached. 

The  sterile  pinnae  are  elliptical  or  linear-oblong,  with  a 
rounded  or  obtusely  cuneate  often  unequal  base,  and  an  obtusely 
pointed  rarely  acute  apex.  They  measure  from  two  to  four 
inches  in  length,  and  about  half  an  inch  in  breadth.  The  midrib 
is  straight,  and  slightly  channelled  above,  but  very  prominent 
beneath,  where  it  is  commonly  furnished  with  a  few  little  ov^ate 
scales.  The  edge  is  very  finely  serrulate  with  cartilaginous  teeth. 
The  veins  arc  placed  very  close  together,  arc  frequently  forked 
close  to  the  midrib,  but  are  uniformly  free,  and  are  most  promi- 
nent on  the  upper  surface,  giving  it  a  finely  striated  appearance. 

The  fertile  pinnae  are  usually  confined  to  the  upper  half  of 
the  frond  :  they  are  narrower  and  often  longer  than  the  sterile 
ones,  and  consequently  more  cuneate  at  the  base,  and  more  acute 
at  the  apex. 

The  venation  differs  from  that  of  the  sterile  pinnae  in  that 
the  veinlets  arc  reticulated  so  as  to  form  a  scries  of  elongated 
narrow  areoles  following  closely  along  each  side  of  the  midrib : 


':    m 


I'i 


ii;i 


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m 


4} 


144 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMFRICA. 


outside  of  these  areoles  the  vcinlets  run  obliquely  to  the  mar- 
gin, as  in  the  sterile  pinnae.*  A  special  line-like  receptacle  is 
formed  on  the  under  surface  nearly  following  the  outer  bound- 
ary of  these  areoles,  but  not  exactly  coinciding  with  it.  This 
receptacle  bears  abundant  sporangia,  and  outside  of  them  a  long 
and  narrow  involucre,  which  is  free  along  its  inner  margin,  and 
at  first  covers  the  sporangia,  but  is  pushed  back  as  they  mature, 
and  is  at  length  ref.exed. 

This  band  of  sporangia  each  side  of  the  midrib,  covered  at 
first  by  a  special  involucre  which  is  remote  from  the  margin  of 
the  frond,  is  characteristic  of  the  genus  Blechuum.  The  venation 
of  the  fertile  pinnae  varies  somewhat  in  the  different  species. 
About  twenty  species  are  now  recognized  :  more  than  half  of 
them  arc  natives  of  tropical  or  south-temperate  America ;  and  the 
rest  arc  found  in  the  East  Indies,  in  Africa,  in  Australia,  or  in 
Polynesia.  One  species  has  Oi.cn  simple  lanceolate  fronds;  a 
few  have  pinnatifid  fronds  ;  several,  like  our  plant,  have  pinnate 
fronds ;  and  one  has  very  much  elongated  bipinnatc  fronds,  with 
the  climbing  and  twining  habit  of  a  Lygodium.  This  species, 
B.  vohibile  (Kaulfuss),  occurs  in  the  West  Indies  and  South 
America,  and  has  been  considered  the  type  of  a  separate  genus 
{Saipichhcna)  by  John  Smith  and  Presl. 

The  genus  Blcchmim,  with  Lotiiaria,  Sadleria,  of  the  Ha- 
waiian Islantls,  IVood-jjardia  and  Doodya,  compose  the  tribe 
Bleclmcce  or  Lomariece,  a  group  which  is  intermediate  between 


'  To  sec  these  areoles,  remove  the  sporangi.-i  and  the  involucre  from  a  fertile 
pinna,  anJ  view  it  with  a  strong  lens  hy  transmitted  light.  The  areoles  may  also  be 
seen  faintly  from  the  upper  surface  by  reflected  light. 


■rli 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


Hi 


Pteridca  and  Aspieniece,  and  is  characterized  by  having  more  or 
less  elongated  sori  parallel  to  the  costa,  cither  near  it  or  remote 
from  it,  but  not  properly  marginal,  and  provided  with  a  special 
involucre  attached  to  the  receptacle  outside  the  sorus,  and  open- 
ing along  the  edge  nearest  the  costa.  Loinana  approaches 
Pteridece  with  inconvenient  closeness,  and  is  referred  to  that 
group  by  Mr.  Baker;  while  by  Mettenius  it  was  united  with 
Blechnum,  and  put  in  his  tribe  Aspieniece. 

Sadlcria  is  probably  peculiar  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  The 
plants  have  erect  trunks  a  few  feet  high,  and  large  coriaceous 
fronds,  with  numerous  elongated  pinnatifid  pinnae.  The  sori  are 
arranged  like  those  of  Blcclinum  along  each  side  of  the  midveiiis 
<if  the  segments,  and  there  are  narrow  paracostal  areoles  like 
those  of  Blcchniun  scfnilatuiii,  but  the  indusium  is  more  coria- 
ceous and  persistent.  The  number  of  species  is  uncertain  :  there 
are  at  least  two,  and  may  be  three  or  four ;  but  it  is  impossible 
to  decide  without  better  and 'ampler  specimens  than  have  as  yet 
been  sent  from  those  islands.  IVoodwardia  is  represented  in  the 
United  States  by  three  species ;  and  Doodia  consists  of  a  few 
species  with  small-sized  fronds,  and  fructification  much  like  that 
of  iroodwardia. 

The  Florida  Blechnum  was  discovered  first  by  Michaux 
upon  the  banks  of  the  stream  A isa-hatclia.  It  was  not  col- 
lected again  for  many  years  until  rediscovered  somewhere  in 
East  Florida  by  Mr.  S.  B.  Buckley.  It  has  since  been  found  by 
many  travellers,  and  is  now  well  known  in  herbaria.  Mr.  Merrill 
has  had  it  in  successful  cultivation  at  Cambridgeport  for  some 


Sri 
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146 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMF.UICA. 


time,  and   it  is   also  cultivated   in   the   Botanical   Gardens   at 
Kew. 

This  is  the  only  species  of  the  genus,  I  believe,  in  which  the 
pinn<nB  arc  plainly  articulated  to  the  rachis ;  and,  although  it  has 
been  described  from  different  and  often  remote  localities  under 
several  more  names  than  are  repeated  in  the  synonymy  given 
above,  all  the  names  have  been  shown  to  belong  to  one  plant. 

Plate  XIX.  —  Dkchnum  serrulatum,  much  reduced,  from  a  living 
plar^  in  the  ferneries  of  Hon.  J.  Warren  Merrill,  at  Cambridgeport,  Mass. 
The  plant  was  brought  from  Southern  Florida.  An  entire  sterile  frond  of 
the  natural  size,  with  a  portion  of  the  root-stock,  is  represented  in  outline, 
and  two  fertile  pinnae,  one  of  them  colored,  and  showing  the  continuous 
band  of  fruit. 

,*^  Since  these  pages  have  been  in  type,  Dr.  Garber  has  sent  pinnae,  over 
six  inches  long,  which  were  taken  from  "  fronds  four  or  five  feet  long." 


1*^ 

I  "f  ■ 


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&: 


i»i 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


H7 


Plates  XX  and  XX^. 

BOTRYCHIUM    TERNATUM,   Swartz. 

Ternate  Grape-Fern. 

BoTRYCHiUM  TERNATUM  :  —  Plant  flcshy,  sparsely  hairy  or 
nearly  smooth,  usually  from  four  to  twelve  inches  high ;  sterile 
segment  long-petioled  from  near  the  base  of  the  plant,  broadly 
deltoid,  ternate,  variously  decompound ;  primary,  secondary,  and 
even  tertiary  divisions  stalked;  ultimate  divisions  from  round- 
ish-renifurm  to  obliquely  ovate  or  ovate-lanceolate,  crenulatc  or 
toothed  or  incised ;  fertile  segment  twice  to  four  times  pinnate, 
usually  much  taller  than  the  sterile ;    bud  pilose. 

Botrychium  tcrnatnm,  Swartz,  in  Schradcrs  Journal,  iSoo,  i!.,  p.  in  ;  Syn. 
Fil.,  p.  172.  —  Wiu.uKXOW,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  63.  — KuNZE,  Pterido- 
graphia  Japonica,  in  Bot.  Zeit.,  vi.  (184S),  p.  491  ;  Die  Farrn- 
krauter,  ii.,  p.  51,  t.  121.  —  Micrri-Nius,  Prolus.  Fl.  Japon.,  in  Ann. 
Mus.  Hot.  Lugd.-Batav.,  iii.,  p.  1S2.  —  Mii.dk,  Fil.  luir.  et  At!., 
p.  199;  Botr.  Monogr.,  p.  146,  t.  vii.,  figs.  7,  13,  14,  18,  19,  viii., 
figs.  3,  4,  5,  7,  8,  12,  ix.,  figs.  5,  23-29  (various  details  of  form 
and  structure).  —  Hoorek  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  448.  —  Daven- 
I'OKi,  in  Torrey  Club  Bull.,  vi.,  p.  196. 

Osntnnda  tcniala,  Tiiunberg,  Fl.  Japon.,  p.  329,  t.  32  (1784). 

#\  To  one  form  or  another  of  this  species  are  to  be  referred  the 

following  synonymes :  — 

Botrypus  lunaroldcs,  MiciiAUX,  Fl.  Bor.  Am.,  ii.,  p.  274. 


m 


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148 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


Botrychimn  lunaroides,  Swartz,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  172. 

Botrychium  lunar ioiclcs,'YoK^VN,  Fl.  New  York,  ii.,  p.  506. — Gray,  Manual, 

ed.  i.,  p.  635,  etc.  —  Eaton,  in  Chapmap.'s  Flora,  p.  599. 
Botrychium  rutaccum,  Swartz,  in  Schraders  Journal,  1800,  ii.,  p.  no  (in 

part);    Syn.    Fil.,   p.    171    (in   part). — Schkuiiu,    Krypt.    Gew., 

p.  157  (in  part),  t.  155,  fig.  a. 
Botrychium  fumarioidcs,  Willdenow,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  63.  —  Pursh,  Fl.  Am. 

Sept.,  ii.,  p.  655.  —  Hrackenridge,  Fil.  U.S.  E.xpl.  F.xpcd.,  p.  316. 
Botrychium  obliquuvt,  Muhlenberg,  in  Willdenow,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.   63. — 

PuR.sii,  Fl.  Am.  Sept.,  ii.,  p.  655.  —  Hooker,  Fl.  Am.   Bor.,  ii., 

p.  265.  —  Fournier,  Mex.  PI.,  Crypt.,  p.  141. 
Botrychium  dissectum,  Sprengei.,  Anleitung,  p.  172  (Engl,  version,  p.  187). 

—  Muhlenberg,   in  Willdenow,  Sp.    PL,   v.,   p.   64.  —  Schkuhr, 
Krypt.  Gew.,  p.  159,  t.  15S.  —  Pursh,  Fl.  Am.  Sept.,  ii.,  p.  656. 

Botrychium  matricarioides,  Willdenow,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  62.  —  Presl,  Suppl., 

p.  44.  —  Moore,  Index  iMlicum,  p.  210. 
Botrychium  australe,  R.  Brown,  Prodromus,  p.  164. 
Botrychimn  silaifolium,  Presl,  Relig.  Haenk.,  i.,  p.  76 ;  Suppl.  p.  45. 
Botrychium  dccompositum,  Martens  &  Galeotit,  Syn.  Fil.  Mex.,  p.  15,  t,  i. 

—  LiEBMANN,  Mex.  Brcgn.,  p.  153. 

Botrychium  rutcefolium,  Al.  Buaun,  "  in  Doell,  Rheinische  Flora,  p.  24."  — 
Koch,  Syn.  Fl.  Germ.,  "  ed.  ii.,  p.  972,"  ed.  iii.,  p.  729.  —  Milde, 
Nov.  Act.  Acad.  Nat.  Cur.,  xxvi.,  ii.,  p.  690,  t.  53,  figs.  197-200, 
t.  54,  fig.  207,  t.  55,  fig.  9. 

Botrychium  mb-bifoliatum,  Br.vckenridge,  Fil.  U.  S.  Ex.  Ex.,  p.  317,  t.  44. 

Botrychium  cicutarium,  J.  D.  Hooker,  Handbook  of  N.  Zeal.  Flora,  p.  387 
(not  of  .Swartz). 
The  most  distinct  of  the  many  North-American  forms  of  this  variable 

species  may  be  arranged  thus :  — 

\'ar.  lunar ioidcs  :  —  Plant  of  small  size ;  sterile  segment  thrice  or  four 


Y    ' 


!.|i 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA,  149 

times  ternate ;   ultimate  divisions,  roundish-rcniform ;   veinlets  flabeliately 
forking. 

Botrypus  hmaroides,  Michaux,  1.  c  — Dotrychium  tcrtmtum,  C)  America- 
num,  «.  lunarioides,  Milde,  Botr.  Monogr.,  p.  162. 

War.  ruttr/olium : — Plant  of  small  size;  secondary  divisions  of  the 
sterile  segment  oblong-ovate,  rather  obtuse,  or  barely  pointed,  near  the 
base  cut  into  a  few  short  lobes  having  their  base  very  unequal,  cordate  on 
the  lower  side,  rounded  or  sub-truncate  on  the  other,  the  margin  entire  or 
sparingly  crenate. 

Botrychimi  ruttr/olmm,  At.  Braun,  1.  c.  —  B.  temattim,  A)  Europaum, 
Milde,  Botr.  Monogr.,  p.  148. 

Van  mistrale: — Plant  ample,  often  very  large;  sterile  segment 
decompound  ;  tertiary  or  quaternary  divisions  ovate-oblong,  sub-acute,  pin- 
natifid  ;  ultimate  segments  broadly  ovate  or  roundish-rhomboid,  the  base 
rounded  on  the  lower  side,  and  erect  or  truncate  on  the  other ;  margin 
crenulate  or  denticulate  ;  veins  diverging  from  a  midvein.  The  fully  devel- 
oped typical  form  of  the  species  :  —    . 

BotrycJiium  australc,  R.  Brown,  1.  c.  —  B.  decomposi/um.  Martens  &  Gale- 
OTir,  1.  c.  —  B.  tcniatum,  B)  AustraiasiaHcum,  «.  vulgarc,  Milde, 
Botr.  Monogr.,  p.  157. 
Sub-var.  intermedium :  —  Rather  less  in  size  than  mistrale,  the  ulti- 
mate segments  fewer  and  smaller. 

B.  htnarioidcs.   Gray,   Manual   of    Botany   (not  Botrypus  lunarioides  of 
Michau.x). 

V^r.  obliquum  :  —  Plant  small  or  large;  sterile  segment  with  ovate- 
lanceolate  pointed  pinnatifid  secondary  or  tertiary  divisions,  the  lower 
segments  of  them  roundish  or  obliquely  ovate,  the  margin  crenulate  or 
toothed  ;  veinlets  diverging  from  a  midrib. 


150 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


Dotrychium  obliqiiiim,  Muhlenberg,  1.  c.  —  B.  hmarioides,  var.  obliquum, 
Gr\y,  1.  c.  —  B.  krnatum,  C)  Antericanmn,  ^.  obliquum,  Milde, 
Botr.  Mon.  p.  163. 
Var.  disscctum  : —  Plant  usually  ample  ;  sterile  segment  decompound  ; 
secondary  or  tertiary  divisions  ovate-lanceolate,  pointed,  cut  into  innumera- 
ble very  narrow  ultimate  segments  or  teeth,  which  receive  solitary  veinlets. 
Botrychiiim  disscctum,  Sprenc.f.i.,  1.  c. ;    ISlLiii.ENiiERO,  1.  c.  —  B.  lunarioides, 
var.  disscctum.  Gray,  1.  c.  —  B.  krnatum,  C)  ^Inuricanum,  ;■.  dis- 
scctum, Milde,  Botr.  Monogr.,  p.  164. 


W 


,  1 


Had.  —  In  pastures  and  on  hillsides,  sometimes  in  woods  also,  from 
Newfoundland  to  I'nalaska  in  the  North,  and  extending  southward  to 
Florida  and  California.  Also  found,  in  one  form  or  another,  in  Northern 
and  Central  Europe,  Northern  Asia,  Japan,  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  New 
Zealand,  Australia,  and  from  Mexico  to  New  Granada  and  Venezuela. 

DiiSCRiPTiON'.  —  The  ternatc  grapc-fcrn  presents  greater  dif- 
ferences in  size,  and  wider  variations  in  tlie  form  and  cutting  of 
the  divisions  of  the  sterile  segment,  than  any  other  species  of 
the  genus.  The  plant  varies  from  barely  one  inch  to  nearly  a 
foot  and  a  half  in  height,  though  it  but  rarely  touches  either 
of  these  extremes. 

The  root-stock  is  cord-like,  a  few  lines  or  an  inch  or  two  in 
length,  bearing  fascicled  roots  chiefly  just  below  the  terminal 
bud.  The  roots  are  dark-colored,  sparingly  branched,  fleshy,  and 
full  of  starch-granules.  Very  often  they  have  a  knotted  or 
densely  annulate  appearance.  As  the  axis  of  growth  elongates 
from  year  to  year  by  the  de\elopmcnt  of  new  fronds,  new  roots 
arc  formed,  and  some  of  the  older  ones  perish,  though  others  of 
them  remain  apparently  for  several  years. 


ill 


m 


Sir- 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


151 


The  bud  differs  from  those  of  the  smaller  species  already 
described  in  being  always  decidedly  pilose  or  hairy.  Like  those, 
however,  it  is  completely  enclosed  in  the  hollowed  base  of  the 
stalk ;  and  in  it  may  be  distinctly  seen  the  rudiment  of  the 
fronds  for  the  two  or  three  following  years.  Mr.  Davenport 
finds  that  the  apices  of  both  the  sterile  and  fertile  segments  are 
bent  downwards,  and  have  a  slight  inward  curve.  (Sec  his 
paper  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  Torrey  Club.) 

The  common  stalk  is  very  short,  being  usually  only  from 
one-tenth  to  one-si.xth  of  the  whole  length  of  the  plant,  the 
separation  of  the  sterile  and  fertile  segments  being  very  nearly 
at  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  not  unfrctjucntly  even  below 
the  surface.  The  sterile  segment,  with  its  petiole,  is  not  far 
from  one-half  the  length  of  the  fertile  segment ;  though,  as  it  is 
always  somewhat  inclined,  or  even  spreading  nearly  horizontally, 
it  does  not  stand  half  as  high  as  the  other,  which  is  erect.  The 
petiole  of  the  sterile  segment  is  nearly  or  quite  as  long  as  the 
segment  itself :  its  lower  portion  is  flesh-colored  and  terete;  but 
the  upper  part  is  of  a  dull  fuscous-brown,  and  impressed  with  a 
narrow  channel,  which  extends  upwards  along  the  superior  side 
of  the  rachis  and  ali  its  branches. 

The  sterile  frond  is  always  deltoid,  or,  perhaps  it  would  be 
more  accurate  to  say,  unequally  five-sided.  It  consists  of  three 
primary  divisions,  which  have  longer  or  shorter  special  petioles 
according  to  the  size  of  the  plant.  The  two  side  divisions  are 
but  little  smaller  than  the  middle  one :  they  are  commonly  oppo- 
site each  other ;   though   not  unfrequently  they  are  not  exactly 


it 


It 


1  i 


>s» 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


Il'i 


^ 


opposite,  but  one  is  an  eighth  or  a  quarter  of  an  inch  below 
the  other.  These  divisions,  as  is  almost  universally  the  case  in 
a  ternately  compound  leaf  or  frond,  have  their  sides  somewhat 
unequal,  being  broader  or  more  developed  on  the  lower  side, 
so  that  their  outline  is  unsymmetrically  triangular-ovate.  The 
middle  primary  division  is,  of  course,  symmetrical,  and  broader 
than  either  of  the  side  divisions.  In  the  smallest  and  simplest 
fronds  which  I  have  seen,  each  of  the  three  primary  divisions 
consists  of  three  little  denticulate,  rather  obtuse  ovate  segments, 
not  more  than  three  lines  long.  From  this,  up  to  the  ample 
decompound  fronds  of  var.  australe,  or  the  delicately  multisect 
var.  dissccfum,  there  are  many  degrees  of  complexity  of  incis- 
ion, and  of  diversity  in  outline,  of  subdivisions  and  lobes.  In 
var.  lunarioides,  the  lobes  or  ultimate  segments  are  mostly  dis- 
tinct and  roundish-reniform,  very  much  like  those  of  B.  Lunaria. 
In  var.  rutccfolium,  only  the  lowest  lobes  are  distinct;  and  they 
are  very  obliquely  ovate,  being  cordate  on  the  lower  side,  and 
rounded  or  truncate  on  the  upper.  The  upper  lobes  are  less 
and  less  distinct,  and  finally  unite  in  an  ovate,  barely  pointed 
terminal  lobe.  In  var.  australe  the  plant  is  usually  of  much 
larger  size,  and  the  sterile  segment  correspondingly  more  com- 
pound, being  often  fully  four  times  pinnatisect.  The  lobes  are 
obliquely  ovate,  the  terminal  one  not  long-pointed,  and  the  mar- 
gin more  or  less  denticulated.  Var.  obliqtium  is  characterized 
by  having  ovate-lanceolate  long-pointed  terminal  lobes,  the  basal 
lobes  being  obliquely  ovate.  The  margin  is  more  or  less  den- 
ticulate ;   and,  when  the  denticulations   become   very  deep,  the 


\X 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


»53 


form  passes  into  var.  dissecttim,  reaching  at  last  a  condition  in 
which  all  the  divisions  are  laciniately  cut  up  into  very  narrow 
and  minute  lobes  and  teeth.^ 

The  hairs  of  the  bud  remain  on  the  frond  until  it  is  fully 
developed,  so  that  the  plant  is  more  or  less  hairy,  though  in  old 
fronds  this  pubescence  gradually  disappears.  The  frond  is  very 
fleshy ;  perhaps  more  so  than  in  any  other  species  of  the  genus. 

The  fertile  segment,  unless  dwarfed  by  some  accident,  con- 
siderably overtops  the  sterile,  and  varies,  according  to  the  size 
of  the  plant,  from  a  little  bipinnate  raceme  up  to  an  ample 
panicle.  Rarely  two  distinct  fertile  panicles  are  developed  from 
one  plant  at  the  same  time.  The  spores  are  thickly  covered 
with  very  minute  roundish  protuberances. 

The  new  fronds  come  up  in  New  England  and  the  Middle 
States  in  July,  and  the  spores  are  matured  in  early  autumn. 
During  the  winter  the  fertile  panicle  withers  away ;  but  the 
sterile  segment  remains  until  spring,  or,  not  unfrequently,  until 


*  llie  following  is  Dr.  Milde's  final  arrangement  of  the  forms  of  this  species.  His 
campestris  and  montana  are  simply  larger  and  smaller  plants,  and  his  millefolium  is  nearly 
ur  quite  identical  with  dissectum. 


A)  EuROP-^^u^f. 

«.  campestris. 
(3.  montana. 

B)  AUSTRALASMTICUM. 

«.  vulgare. 

Forma  sub-bifoliata, 
§,  dentatum. 


Botrychium   ternatum. 

B)  AusTRALASiAXiortJ  {continued). 
f.  era  sum. 
S.  millefolium, 

C)  Americanum. 
a.  lunarioides. 
^.  obliquum. 
y.  dissectum. 


i!     if 


>54 


TERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


the  new  frond  has  made  its  appearance :  so  that  a  plant  with 
two  fronds,  one  of  them  the  growth  of  the  previous  year,  is  not 
rarely  seen. 

While  the  species,  as  a  whole,  extends  round  the  north 
temperate  zone,  and  is  spread  to  the  southward  as  far  as  Vene- 
zuela and  Tasmania,  some  of  the  forms  have  a  more  or  less 
restricted  range.  Var.  lunayioides,  as  here  considered,  has  been 
found  only  in  South  Carolina  and  the  Gulf  States ;  var.  ntta- 
folitim,  though  the  only  European  form,  occurs  in  America  only 
in  Newfoundland,  New  Brunswick,  and  the  neighboring  region ; 
var.  australe  is  found  from  Japan  to  Tasmania,  in  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  in  Central  America,  Venezuela,  New  Granada,  and 
Mexico,  and  thence  through  California  to  Unalaska,  and  again,  in 
a  somewhat  reduced  form,  in  Wyoming,  the  Middle  States,  and 
New  England,  where  it  passes  by  imperceptible  and  undefinable 
changes  into  var.  obliqntim.  This  transitional  form,  which  we 
may  call  sub-variety  iiitcriiicdiuni,  is  the  typical  B.  lunarioides 
of  Gray's  Manual.  Dr.  Milde's  figure  of  B.  rutcc/oliiim,  var. 
robtistiini  (Nov.  Acta.  Acad.  Nat.  Cur.,  xxvi.,  ii.,  t.  55,  fig.  g),  from 
Unalaska,  well  represents  it.  Var.  obliqiium  is  common  from 
Canada  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  extends,  according  to  Milde, 
to  Hudson's  Bay  and  to  Mexico.  Var.  disscctum  is  less  com- 
mon, but  occurs  from  Canada  to  Florida,  and  is  apparently 
identical  with  a  plant  in  New  Zealand. 

The  colored  plate  represents  at  the  right  a  plant  of  var.  lunarioides 
from  Burke  County,  Georgia ;  in  the  middle  is  var.  obliquuni,  from  Med- 
ford,  Massachusetts ;   and  at  tlie  left  is  var.  dissectum,  from  Maine.     Of 


(^ 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


'55 


the  enlarged  segments,  the  uppermost  is  var.  lutiarioidcs,  the  middle  one 
var.  disscctum,  and  the  K^\vest  var.  obUqtmm.  At  the  left  arc  shown  a  group 
of  sporangia  enlarged,  a  highly  magnified  spore,  and  a  bud  I)oth  whole 
and  in  section.  More  finely  divided  plants  of  var.  disscctum  are  not  very 
uncommon. 

In  the  uncolored  plate,  the  largest  plant,  behind  the  other  two,  is  var. 
auslralc,  from  Plumas  County,  California,  collected  by  Mrs.  Austin  ;  the 
middle  plant  is  also  var.  auslralc,  from  Lewis  County,  New  York  (Mrs. 
Barnes)  ;  and  the  plant  in  front  of  the  others  is  sub-var.  intermedium,  from 
Shclbourne,  in  New  Hampshire.  The  larger  detached  segment  is  from 
another  very  large  Californian  plant,  and  the  smaller  one  is  from  a  second 
plant  from  Lewis  County,  New  York. 

I  have  to  express  my  thanks  to  Mr.  Davenport  for  having  selected 
most  of  these  specimens,  and  for  the  great  pains  he  has  taken  in  assist- 
ing Mr.  Emerton  to  arrange  them  for  drawing. 


:  j" ; 


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T^ERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


157 


T 


.'9 


Plate  XXI. 

PHEGOPTERIS   DRYOPTERIS,   F^e. 
Oak-Fern. 

Phegopteris  Dryopteris  :  —  Root-stock  slender,  cord-like, 
widely  creeping ;  stalks  scattered,  slender,  chaffy  near  the  base, 
six  to  twelve  inches  high ;  fronds  thinly  herbaceous,  smooth, 
deltoid,  four  to  ten  inches  wide  and  long,  ternate ;  primary  divis- 
ions stalked  and  widely  divergent,  pinnate  with  usually  opposite 
linear-oblong  pinnae,  which  are  pinnately  lobed  or  divided ;  lobes 
oblong,  obtuse,  slightly  curved,  entire  or  crenated,  in  very  large 
fronds  those  of  the  middle  division  again  pinnatifid ;  veins  pin- 
nately branched;  sori  rather  small,  seated, in  the  back  of  the 
veinlets  near  the  margin  of  the  lobes. 

Phegopteris  Dryopteris,  Fee,  Genera   Filicum,  p.  243.  —  Metfenius,  Fil. 

Hort.  Lips.,  p.  83  ;  Phegopteris,  p.  9.  —  Eaton,  in  Gray's  Manual, 

ed.  v.,  p.  663.  —  MiLDE,  Fil.  Eur.  et  Atl.,  p.  98. 
Polypodium  Dryopteris,  Linnaeus,  Sp.  PI.,  p.  1555.  —  Swartz,  Syn.  Fil,  p. 

41.  —  ScHKUiiR,   Krypt.  Gcw.,  p.   19,  t.   25.  —  Torrev,  F1.  New 

York,  ii.,  f    1.85.  —  Ruprecht,  Dist.  Crjpt.  Imp.  Ross.,  p.  52. — 

Gray,  Manual,  ed.  i,  p.  623,  etc.  —  Hooker,  British  Ferns,  t.  4; 

Sp.  Fil.,  iv.,  p.  250.  —  Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  309  (excl. 

var.  Robcrtiantint) . 
Nephrociiitm  Dryopteris,  Michaux,  F1.  Bor.  Am.,  ii.,  p.  270. 
Polystichum  Dryopteris,  Roth,  1*'1.  Germ.,  iii.,  p.  30. 


jili 


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1*1 


L  'b^ 


158 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


Polypodium  calcarcum,  Pursh,  F1.  Am.  Sept.,  ii.  p.  659  (not  of  Smith  and 
vVilldenow). 

Hab.  —  Open,  rocky  woods,  not  rare  in  Canada  and  the  Northern 
United  States,  and  extending  to  the  mountains  of  Colorado,  to  Oregon, 
Unaiaska,  Labrador,  and  perhaps  Greenland.  It  is  found  also  throughout 
Northern  Europe  and  Asia,  from  the  British  Isles  to  Kamtschatka,  the 
southern  limits  being  the  Pyrenees  and  Northern  Italy  in  Europe,  and 
Tibet  and  Cashmere  in  Asia. 

Description.  —  The  oak-fern  has  a  cord-like  creeping  root- 
stock,  scarcely  a  line  in  diameter,  but  often  a  foot  or  more  in 
length.  It  creeps  several  inches  in  advance  of  the  growing 
fronds,  the  newer  portion  bearing  a  few  thin  ovate  chaffy  scales, 
and  producing  rudimentary  stalks  which  grow  up  and  bear  fronds 
the  coming  year.  The  stalks  are  continuous  with  the  root-stock, 
as  in  the  Aspidin,  and  not  articulated  with  it  as  they  are  in 
Polypodium.  This  is  the  best  technical  distinction  between  Phe- 
goptci'is  and  Polypodium  :  the  former  being,  as  Mr.  John  Smith 
has  termed  it,  desmobryoid ;  and  the  latter,  ercmobryoid.^ 

The  stalk  is  erect,  very  slender,  greenish  in  the  living  plant, 
but  stramineous  in  the  dried  specimen.  The  lowest  portion  is 
commonly  somewhat  flcxuous,  dark  brown,  and  clothed  with  a 
few  thin  ovate  scales  like  those  of  the  root-stock. 

The  frond  is  thin-mcmbranaccous,  perfectly  smooth,  and  of 
a  clear  leaf-green.  It  is  broadly  triangular  in  shape,  and  meas- 
ures from  four  to  eight  or  ten  inches  in  breadth,  and  nearly  as 
much    n  length.     It  is  divided  into  three  spreading  parts,  which 

'  Sec  tlic  explanation  on  (>.   1 16,  ante. 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


'59 


have  distinct  stalks  from  half  an  inch  to  an  inch  and  a  half  long. 
The  stalks  of  the  side  divisions  join  that  of  the  middle  division 
by  a  slight  articulation.  The  middle  division  is  considerably 
wider  than  the  others,  broadly  and  symmetrically  triangular  in 
shape,  and  is  composed  of  several  pairs  of  opposite  sessile  bi- 
pinnatifid  pinnae,  the  lowest  of  which  is  the  largest,  though 
much  smaller  than  the  stalked  primary  divisions  below  it.  The 
two  lateral  primary  divisions  arc  also  broadly  triangular,  but  are 
not  symmetrical,  as  the  lower  side  of  each  is  much  more  devel- 
oped than  the  upper.  The  pinnae  of  these  are  usually  opposite, 
though  not  invariably  so,  and  are  once  pinnatifid.  The  first 
pinna  on  the  lower  side  of  a  lateral  primary  division  is  com- 
monly equal  in  size  and  similar  in  cutting  to  the  second  pinna 
of  the  middle  primary  division.  The  lobes  of  all  the  pinnae  are 
oblong,  obtuse,  slightly  curved  upwards,  and  vary  from  entire  to 
crenate  or  toothed,  according  to  their  size.  Every  lobe  has  a 
midvein,  from  which  the  veinlets  proceed  on  cither  side.  The 
veinlets  are  either  simple  or  forked,  and  bear  the  small  roundish 
naked  fruit-dots  near  the  margin  of  the  lobes. 

The  sporangia  are  smooth ;  and  the  spores,  \\hich  are  bean- 
shaped,  are  furnished  with  scattered  warty  prominences. 

Closely  allictl  to  this  species  is  the  Phcgoptcris  cakarca  of 
Fee.  It  is  more  rigid  in  habit,  has  proportionately  smaller  lower 
pinna,'  of  the  primary  lateral  divisions,  and  is  everywhere  dotted 
with  minute  sessile  glands.  It  is  found  in  Europe  and  Asia; 
and,  though  it  has  frequently  been  attributed  to  America  also,  I 
ha\e  never  been  so  fortunate  as  to  sec  an  American  specimen, 
and  am  persuaded  that  none  has  ever  been  discovered. 


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FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


Plate  XXI..  —  Phcgoptcris  Dryopkris.  The  specimen  represented  was 
collected  near  Brattlcborough,  Vermont,  by  my  venerable  and  excellent 
friend,  Mr.  Charles  C.  Frost,  in  1858.  It  departs  a  little  from  the  common 
type  in  having  the  lowest  pinnae  of  the  side  divisions  not  e.xactly  opposite, 
but  the  superior  one  a  little  lower  down  on  the  partial  rachis  than  the 
inferior  one. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMFRICA. 


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P1.ATK     XXII.  — I'lC.    I. 


ASPIDIUM    LONCHITIS,  Swautz. 

Holly-Fern. 

AsriDiUM  LoNcnrris  :  —  Root-stock  stout,  ascending,  very 
chaffy  ;  stalks  short,  clustered,  bearing  large  ferruginous  scales 
intermixed  with  finer  chaff;  fronds  evergreen,  sub-coriaceous,  six 
to  eighteen  inches  long,  one  to  two  and  a  half  inches  wide,  linear- 
lanceolate,  narrowed  moderately  at  the  base,  acute  or  acuminate 
at  the  apex,  pinnate  ;  pinnne  very  numerous,  crowded,  broadly 
lanceolate,  falcate,  spinulose-serrate,  acute ;  the  lower  ones  sym- 
metrically triangular ;  the  upper  ones  strongly  auricled  on  the 
upper  side,  and  cuneate  on  the  lower ;  sori  in  a  double  row  on 
the  pinna;  and  the  auricle ;  indusium  orbicular,  attached  by  the 
centre. 

Aspiditim  Lonchitis,  Swautz,  in  Schratlers  Journal,  1800,  ii.,  p.  30. — 
SruKNGEi.,  AiikMtiing,  p.  125  (Engl,  version,  p.  138).  —  Swaktz, 
Syn.  Fil.,  p.  43.  —  ScuKunu,  Krypt.  Gcw.,  p.  29,  t.  xxix.  —  Wiu.- 
DKNow,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  224.  —  Mettenius,  FIl.  lion.  Lips.,  p.  8S  ; 
Phegopt.  &  Aspid.,  p.  41.  —  Gkay,  Manual,  cd.  ii.,  etc. —  Mookku, 
Brit.  P'crns,  t.  ix. ;  S]).  Fil.,  iv.,  p.  8.  —  Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn. 
Fil.,  p.  250.  —  Mu.DE,  Fil.  Eur.  et  Adant.,  p.  104. 

Polyppdiiwi  Loiii/iilis,  Linx.eu.s,  Sp.  PI.,  p.  1548. 

Pofyslic/iuni  Lonchitis,  Rotii,  "Tent.  Fl.  Germ.,  iii.,  p.  71." — Sciiorr,  Gen. 
Fil.    (with  a   plate  giving  details  of  structure).  —  Pkesl,  Tent. 


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162 


FKRNS  OF   NORTir   AMKRIi'A. 


Pt«ri(l.,  p.  S2.  —  Im':i:,  (icii.  I'il.,  p.  27S.  —  C/Uav,  Manual,  cd,  i., 
p.  632.  —  Mooui:,  Nat.  Print.  Brit,  i'crns,  t.  ix. —  Rui-kkciit,  Hist. 
Crj'pt.  Vase.  Imp.  Uoss.,  p.  3S.  —  W.  I).  VViiitnky,  in  Foster  M: 
VViiitney's  Ri;p.  on  CJcol.  of  L.  Superior,  part  ii.,  p.  3H0. 

H.\'!.  —  i'locky  places,  from  the  vicinity  of  (ieorgian  May,  Lake 
Huron,  Canada,  IVofessor  Minck.s,  Mrs.  Rov,  Mr.  Wait,  to  the  southern 
shore  of  Lake  Superior,  Professor  Wiiitnm.v,  etc.,  and  westward  to  tlu; 
Cascade  Mountains  of  Pritish  Columbia,  Dr.  I,\ai.[..  .Soutluvaril  it  occurs 
along  the  mountains  as  far  as  Utah,  having  heen  f.iuiul  in  the  Wahsatch 
Mountains  by  Mr.  Watson,  and  near  Spring  Lake  by  Dr.  P.\ki<v.  North- 
ward it  extends  to  Unalaska  and  Greenland ;  and  in  the  Old  World  it 
occurs  in  alpine  and  sub-alpine  regions  from  the  British  Islands  to  the 
Caucasus,  ami  from  Spain  to  Laplantl  and  Siberia.  Dr.  Milde  gives  Lab- 
rador also,  but  I  know  not  on  whose  authority. 

Description.  —  The  holly-fern  has  a  thick  and  almost 
woody  root-stock,  closely  covered  with  the  i lubricating  bases  of 
former  stalks.  The  newer  portion  is  very  chaffy,  with  ample 
ovate  rusty-brown  scales.  The  fronds  stand  in  a  crown  at  the 
top  of  the  root-stock,  and  are  nearly  sessile,  or  at  most  have 
stalks  only  four  or  five  inches  long.  These  stalks  bear  copious 
large  chaffy  scales,  mixed  in  with  much  smaller  and  narrower 
scales  :  the  latter  are  seen  in  greater  or  less  abundance  along  the 
rachis  also.  The  fronds  vary  in  length  from  a  few  inches  to  two 
and  a  half  feet,  and  in  width  from  less  than  an  inch  to  two  inches 
and  a  half.  In  outline  they  are  narrowly  lanceolate,  the  greatest 
width  being  above  the  middle  of  the  frond,  so  that  they  are 
gradually  narrowed  downwards  for  more  than  half  their  length. 


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nCRNS  OF   NORTH   AMKRICA. 


X'M 


Tlic  apex  is  acute  or  shortly  acuminate.  The  piiiiUL'  are  closely 
placed,  and  very  numerous,  a  frond  of  average  size  having  as 
many  as  fifty  on  each  side  of  the  rachis.  The  lower  pinn.e  arc 
triangular,  having  the  upper  and  lower  sides  nearly  e(|ual,  and 
slightly  auricled.  Higher  up  the  frond,  as  the  pinn.nc  become 
longer,  the  inferior  auricle  disappears,  and  presently  the  lower 
side  of  the  pinnai  is  narrowed  at  the  base,  while  the  auricle  on 
the  upper  side  is  more  developed,  and  at  the  same  time  the  pinnae 
are  strongly  curved  upwards.  The  edges  of  the  pinnx  arc  ser- 
rate, having  large  spinulose-pointed  teetli,  with  much  smaller 
pointless  teeth  interposed  between  them.  The  veins  are  free, 
and  proceed  from  a  midvein.  The  fronds  arc  rather  rigid,  sub- 
coriaceous  in  texture,  and  evergreen.  The  upper  surface  is 
smooth,  but  the  under  surface  is  more  or  less  chaffy.  The 
fruit-dots,  which  are  confined  to  the  upper  portion  of  the  frond, 
arc  usually  arranged  in  a  single  row  each  side  of  the  midvein, 
and  about  half  way  between  it  and  the  margin  :  they  also  occur 
on  the  auricles  in  two  similar  rows. 

The  indusium  is  orbicular  and  nearly  entire,  and  attached 
by  the  centre  to  a  short  stem  which  rises  from  the  middle  of 
the  fruit-dot.  As  the  sporangia  mature,  the  indusium  contracts 
a  little  at  the  margin,  and  becomes  somewhat  funnel-shaped. 
The  spores  are  ovoid-bean-sh.iped,  and  have  a  minutely  nuiricu- 
latc  surface. 

The  holly-fern  is  singularly  free  from  variation ;  the  only 
differences  noticed  being  of  size,  and  of  coarser  or  finer  serra- 
tion.    It  belongs  to  the  same  group  of  species  as  A .  acrosti- 


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164 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


choides  of  eastern  North  America,  and  A.  munitum  of  the 
western  side  of  the  continent.  The  first  has  a  decidedly  stalked, 
broader  frond,  the  lower  pinnae  scarcely  reduced  in  size,  and  the 
fertile  ones  much  contracted.  Aspidiiim  mun.tum,  to  be  fig- 
ured presently,  is  usually  a  much  larger  plant  than  that  now 
under  consideration,  has  a  well-developed  stalk,  and  usually 
elongated  pinna?,  the  lower  ones  scarcely  reduced. 

The  genus  Aspidiuin,  as  understood  by  Mettenius,  contains 
not  less  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  species,  by  far  the  greater 
part  with  reniform  indusia.  Hooker  and  Baker  separate  this 
portion  under  the  name  of  Ncphrodium,  keeping  Aspid'.um  for 
the  species  with  orbicular  indusia.  Po/yslic/iniii,  of  Roth,  is  an 
older  name  than  Aspidiiim,  and  would  seem  to  have  been  origi- 
nally intended  to  have  nearly  the  same  application.  Schott,  and, 
after  him,  Prcsl  and  Moore,  have  limited  the  use  of  the  name  to 
the  species  with  orbicular  indusium  and  free  veins  ;  while  Koch 
has  chosen  to  give  the  name  to  the  species  with  reniform 
indusia,  and  to  call  Schott's  Polystichuni  by  Swartz's  na.ne  of 
AspidiuiH.  But  the  signification  of  the  word  Polystichuni 
{many^rows)  is  inapplicable  to  most  Aspidia;  and  perhaps  this 
is  the  best  reason  fo'  adopting  the  name  proposed  by  Swartz. 


Plate  XXII.,  Fi<r.  i. — Aspidiiim  Lonchitis,  from  Owen  Sound,  Can- 
ada, collected  by  Mrs.  William  Roy.  The  smaller  figure  to  the  right  of  tlvj 
stalk  shows  a  fruiting  pinna. 


FKRNS   OF   NORTH   AMI^RICA. 


165 


Plate  XXII.  — Img.  2. 

WOODWARDIA   ANGUSTI FOLIA,  Smith. 

Netted  Chain-Fern. 

WooDWARDiA  ANGUSTiFOLiA  :  —  Root-stock  rather  slender, 
creeping,  elongated ;  stalks  scattered,  six  to  twelve  inches  high, 
chaffy  only  at  the  base;  fronds  ovate-oblong,  membranaceous, 
smooth,  pinnatifid;  the  sterile  ones  six  to  twelve  inches  long, 
two-thirds  as  broad,  having  ample  lanceolate  finely  serrulate 
divisions  united  at  the  base  by  a  broad  wing,  the  veinlets 
forming  several  rows  of  oblong-hexagonal  areoles ;  fertile  fronds 
taller,  having  almost  disconnected  narrowly  linear  segments, 
the  areoles  in  a  single  row  each  side  the  midvein,  each  areole 
containing  an  elongated  sorus  covered  by  an  arched  indusium 
attached  by  its  outer  margin  to  the  fruiting  veinlet. 

IVofldivaniia  anpcslifolia,  S\nTH,  in  Mcin.  Acad.  Turin,  v.,  p.  411. — Tor- 
rev,  I'l.  N.Y.,  ii.,  p.  490.  —  Gr.vy,  Manual,  cd.  !.,  p.  625  ;  ed.  ii., 
p.  593,  t.  X.,  figs.  I,  2,  3.  — Beck,  Botany,  cd.  ii.,  p.  462.  —  MErrE- 
Nius,  I'll.  I  lort.  Lips.,  p.  66,  t.  vi.,  fiys.  6,  7.  —  IvvroN,  in  Chapman's 
Flora,  p.  591.  —  Wood,  Botanist  and  Florist,  p.  371, 

Woodivardia  Floridana,  Sciikuiir,  Krypt.  Gow.,  p.  103,  t.  in. 

Woodwardia  onoc/eoides,  VVilldenow,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  416.  —  Pursu,  Fi.  Am. 
Sept.,  ii.,  p.  669.  —  BiGELow,  Fl.  Bost.,  cd.  iii.,  p.  423.  —  Wood, 
Class-Book,  p.  632. 


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1 66 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


'i  1 


Woodward ia   arcolala,  MooKi;,  Ind.   I""il.,  p.  xlv. —  I  IouivKK,  Sp.   l'"il.,  iii., 

p.  70;    Garden  J'crns,  t.  Ixi.  —  Lowu,  Ferns,  t.  xlvi.  ^- Hookkr  & 

Bakkr,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.    1S9. 
Acrostic/iiitn  arcolatnin,  LiNN/iiUS,  Sp.  PI.,  p.  1526. 
Lorinscria   arcolaia,   Presi,,   Epiin.   Bot.,  p.   72. —  Ffeii,  Gen.  Fil.,  p.  20S, 

t.  17B. — J.  Smith,  Ferns,  lirit.  and  Foreign,  p.  207. 
Onoclca  nodulosa,  JNIiciiAux,  FI.  Bor.  Am.,  ii.,  i-'   _^j. 
Osmiiiidci   Cayoliniana,  Walter,  "  Fl.  Carol.,  p.  257." 
Acrostichiim  frondc  pinnata,  foliolis   altcrnis    I'nicaribus    apicc    scrra/is, 

Gronovius,  Fl.  Virg.,  p.   124;    cd.  ii.,  p.   165. 

Hab.  —  Wet  swampy  woods,  not  very  common,  but  plentiful  in  cer- 
tain localities,  from  Massachusetts  to  I'kjrida  and  Louisiana,  apparently 
never  very  far  from  the  coast.  It  occurs  near  Ilingham  and  Amherst  in 
Massachusetts;  in  Fast  Haven,  Orange,  and  Stratford,  in  Connecticut;  at 
Wading  River,  and  near  Mempstead,  on  Long  Island  ;  and  is  by  no  means 
rare  in  the  lower  portions  of  New  Jersey. 

Description. — The  root-stock  is  several  inches  or  even  a 
foot  long,  often  branched,  round,  and  rather  less  than  a  quarter  of 
an  inch  thick.  It  is  of  a  very  dark  brown,  and  bears  blackish 
fibrous  roots  along  its  whole  length.  The  newest  portion  has 
a  few  very  thin  appressed  scales.  A  short  distance  from  the 
apex  a  few  (2-4)  stalks  rise,  usually  from  alternate  sides ;  and 
still  nearer  the  end  are  one  or  two  sp.ur-likc  undeveloped  stalks. 
The  bases  of  tlie  old  stalks  remain  a  year  or  two  before  tliey 
finally  decay.  The  fertile  and  the  sterile  fronds  are  imlike;  and 
it  was  thi^  hetemniorphisni,  conihinrd  with  sonic  differences  in 
the   \en.ilion,  thai    induced    I'lcsl,   .uiil    after   ''.liu    F'ee  and    John 


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I'M 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


167 


Smith,  to  consider  this  fern  the  type  of  a  genus  distinct  from 
IVoodwardia. 

The  sterile  fronds,  which  are  far  the  most  al^undant,  are 
usually  nine  or  ten  inches  long,  and  rest  on  a  stalk  of  about 
the  same  length.  The  stalk  is  naked,  except  for  a  few  very 
thin  scales  at  the  base.  It  is  dark-brown  or  blackish  at  the 
base,  becoming  paler  higher  up,  and  passing  into  the  green 
color  of  the  rachis  as  it  nears  the  frond.  In  section  it  is  very 
convex  on  the  back  and  sides,  and  slightly  convex  on  the  face. 
Where  the  two  convexities  meet  there  is  or  each  side  a  slightly- 
raised  line,  whicii  higher  up  becomes  more  prominent,  and  passes 
into  the  border  or  wing  of  the  rachis.  There  is  a  single  cen- 
tral fil)io-vascular  bundle,^  convex  on  the  back,  and  either  flat- 
tened or  slightly  hollowed  on  the  face.  The  frond  itself  is 
oblong-ovate  in  outline,  and  consists  of  a  terminal  segment, 
variable  in  size,  and  more  or  less  sinuatcly  lobed,  and  from 
four  to  twelve  oblong  pointed  lobes  on  each  side.  These  lobes 
are  separated  by  broad  open  or  rounded  sinuses  or  bays,  and 
are  connected  at  their  bases  by  a  wing  which  runs  r.long 
cither  side  of  the  rachis  or  midrib,  from  just  below  the  base 
of  the  frond,  where  it  is  very  narrow,  u])  to  the  terminal  lobe, 
widening  upwards,  and  iioar  the  apex  often  fully  half  an  inch 
broad.  The  lobes  are  from  one  to  four  inches  long,  and 
from  half  an  inch  to  an  inch  wide.  They  are  more  or  less 
undulate,  and  are    finely   serrated.      In  texture    they  arc   softly 

'  Prcsl  says  thciv  arc  throe  in  the  otalk  o[  the  sterile  fniml,  and  one  in  liiat  of 
tlic,  fertile.     I  fintl  but  one  in  either  stalk. 


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membranaceous  and  perfectly  smooth,  and  in  color  bright-green 
above,  and  somewhat  paler  beneath. 

The  veins  and  veinlets  are  slicditly  impressed,  and  arc  very 
evident ;  and,  as  they  are  finely  reticulated,  they  give  the  frond  an 
areolated  appearance.  Along  each  side  of  the  midrib  and  mid- 
veins  there  is  a  longitudinal  row  of  narrow  areoles  ;  outside  of 
these  there  are  three  or  four  irregular  rows  of  oblirjuely  hex- 
agonal areoles;  and  at  the  very  edge  there  is  a  series  of  short 
free  veinlets,  one  extending  to  each  tooth  of  the  serration. 

The  fertile  fronds  are  considerably  taller  than  the  sterile,  and 
have  a  much  longer  and  darker-colored  stalk.  They  are  about 
the  same  size  as  the  others,  and  have  as  many  divisions ;  but 
these  are  narrowly  oblong-linear,  being  only  one  and  a  half  to 
two  lines  wide.  The  wing  of  the  midrib  is  reduced  to  a 
scarcely  perceptible  border,  which,  however,  widens  out  a  little 
to  meet  the  base  of  each  segment.  The  margin  of  the  segments 
is  obscurely  crenulate,  and  usually  somewhat  recurved.  The  are- 
oles arc  reduced  to  the  paratostal  series  (one  row  each  side  the 
midvein)  and  a  few  free  marginal  veinlets.  These  paracostal 
areoles  are  three  or  four  lines  long,  and  each  one  is  nearly 
covered  by  a  rather  heavy  and  rigid  oblong  vaulted  brownish 
involucre,  which  is  attached  to  the  enclosing  veinlet,  and  is  free 
along  the  edge  next  the  midvein.  Under  the  involucre  tlic 
sporangia  grow  ;  also  from  the  enclosing  veinlet.  Tiie  sporangia 
are  provided  with  the  usual  incomplete  vertical  clastic  ring  of 
the  PoIypiMUacecc.  The  spores  are  ovoid-spherical  or  obscurely 
spheroid-tetrahcdral,  and  appear  to  have  a  smooth  surface. 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


169 


The  sterile  fronds  appear  in  May  (in  Connecticut),  and 
the  fertile  fronds  somewhat  later;  so  that  the  fruit  is  not  ripe 
until  autumn.  Tiie  fronds  wither  soon  afterwards,  and  presently 
disappear. 

I  have  preferred  the  name  assigned  to  this  fern  by  Sir 
James  Edward  Smith  when  he  proposed  the  genus,  although 
the  specific  name  given  by  Linn.eus  is  older,  and  fully  as 
appropriate. 

The  genus  was  named  in  honor  of  Thomas  Jmnkinson 
Woodward,  LL.B.,  a  fellow  of  the  Linnaean  Society.  Smith's 
account  of  the  genus  and  the  species  known  to  him  reads 
thus : -  - 

"  WoODWARniA  :  Friictificatio  in  punctis  ohlonjris,  ilisrnctis,  seriaii- 
biis,  costae  adjacenlibus.  Invcjlucra  siiix'rficiaria.  fornicata,  costain  versus 
dehisccntia." 

"I.  //'  a)i!^Hs/ifo/ia  :  frondc  piiinata  ;  pinnis  linc'aril)us  aculis  intc- 
gerriinis.  Mabital  in  Pennsylvania.  Ex  amicissimo  viro  D.  Georgia 
Stnnntoii    liaronctuj    lial)ui. 

"  2.    JF.  ydpoiiicit.      (  ISlrchmim    laponicum,  Thunb.) 

"3,    IV.  Virginica.      ( Hlcchmiin   X'iroitiicum,   Linn.i 

"4.    ]\'.  radically      (  Hlccbiuiin  I'atlicaiis,   Linn.)" 

It  is  vcr\'  pr()l)al)lc  that  Smith  received  onh'  fertile  fronds 
from  his  friend  Staunton;  and,  as  these  had  \erv  narrow  pin- 
na?, he  gave  the  name  august ifolid  to  the  species,  being  not 
aware  that  tlie  ylcivsfichuni  nyeolafuni  of  Linnaeus  w.i  tlic 
same  thing. 

IVoodwardia  HayJaiidii,  of  Hooker,  from  Hong-Kong,  and 


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170  FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 

perhaps  ^'  orientalis,  of  Swartz,  are  the  only  good  species  that 
have  been  added  to  the  genus ;  for,  although  many  new  names 
have  been  proposed,  it  has  happened  in  all  other  cases  that  they 
were  but  synonymes  for  the  species  already  known, 

Plate  XXII.,  Fig.  2. —  Woodwardia  angustifolia,  from  a  plant  col- 
lected by  my  honored  father,  the  late  General  Amos  B.  Eaton,  near 
Stratford,  Connecticut,  in   1856.     The  details  require  no  explanation. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


171 


Platk   XXIII.  — Fig.   i. 

PHEGOPTERIS   ALPESTRIS,  Mettenius. 

Alpine   Beech-Fern. 

Phegopteris  ALPESTRIS  :  —  Root-stock  short  and  thick, 
erect  or  oblique ;  stalks  sub-terminal,  four  to  ten  inches  long, 
bearing  a  few  brown  spreading  scales  near  the  base  ;  fronds  one 
to  two  feet  long,  oblong-lanceolate,  membranaceous,  smooth,  pin- 
nate with  delicately  bi-pinnatifid  deltoid-lanceolate  pinnae,  the 
lower  ones  distant,  and  decreasing  moderately ;  pinnules  ovate- 
oblong  or  oblong-lanceolate,  doubly  incised  and  toothed ;  sori 
small,  rounded,  naked,  usually  copious  on  all  or  all  but  the 
lowest  pinnae. 

Phegopteris  alpestris,    Mettenius,  Fil.   Hort.   Lips.,  p.  83  ;    Phegopteris, 

p.  10. 
Polypodium  alpestre,  Hoppe,  "  in  Spreng.  Syst.  Veg.,  iv.,  par.  il.,  p.  320." — 

Kocn,  Syn.  Fl.  Germ.,  "  cd.  2,  p.  974;"  ed.  3,  p.  731.  —  Moore, 

Nat.  Pr.  Brit.  Ferns,  t.  vii.  —  Hooker  &  Arnott,  Brit.  FL,  ed.  7, 

p.   582.  —  Hooker,    Brit.  Ferns,  t.  vi. ;   Sp.  Fil.,  iv.,  p.  251. — 

Hooker  &  Bakek,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  311. 
Aspidium   alpestre,   Swartz,   Syn.  Fil.,  p.  421. —  Schkuhr,  Krypt.  Gew., 

p.  58,  t.  60. 
Asplenium  alpestre,  Mettenius,  Asplenium,  p.  198,  t.  vi.,  figs.  1-6. 
Pseudatliyrmm   alpestre,  Newman,  "  Phytologist,  iv.,  p.  370;"    Hist.  Brit. 

Ferns,  ed.  iii.,  p.  200. 


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I'KRNS   ()|-    NdRlll    AMK.KICA. 


.-U/iyrinin  alpcslrc,  "  Nvi.ANLiiik ; "  Miini',  I'll.  lui.  &  All.,  p.  s.v 
Po/ypodiiini  rlueticum,  Linn.i-us,  Sp.   I'l.,  |).   i$^2,  Jidc  Schkuhr,  I.e.;    I)ut 

Moore  thinks  the  phiu  not  tlic  saiUL". 
Aspidiitm   rlueticnm,  Swakiz,  Syii.   I'il.,  p.  59.  —  \V'ii,i.iii:.\o\v,  .S[).  I'l.,  v., 

p.  2  So. 

Had.  —  Among  rocks  at  liigli  i'I('\;uioiis ;  on  l.asscn's  IVak,  Mount 
Shasta,  Pyramid  I'cak,  Mount  Rosi-,  and  otlirr  hi<^h  points  in  tiu;  Sierra 
of  California,  iikiAvi;i<,  I.immon,  Miiu  ;  Cascailc  Mountains  of  Hritish 
Columbia,  I.vai.i,.  In  tin-  Alps  and  tin:  mountains  of  Nortlu-rn  luu'ope  ; 
also  in  the  Caucasus,  and  in  Asia  Min<ir. 

Dhscrii'Iion.  —  The  root-stc.ck  is  rather  short,  but  branch- 
ing, and  seems  to  form  great  entangled  masses.  The  fronds 
stand  in  a  crown  or  circle,  rising  from  the  end  of  the  root- 
stock,  wliich  is  made  thick  and  heavy  with  the  chaffy  bases 
of  former  stalks.  Mr.  Lemmon  writes  thus:  "  It  grows  in  a 
limiteil  locality,  so  far  as  I  know,  near  the  summit  of  Mount 
Rose,  near  Webl^er  Lake,  and  say  at  an  elevation  of  7,000  feet ; 
hit.  39,^"  N.  Fronds  collected  into  a  large  mass  four  feet  across, 
short  at  the  circumference,  in  the  centre  three  feet  high  ;  most  of 
them  fertile,  and  densely  so,  as  in  the  specimen  sent." 

The  stalks  are  usually  but  a  few  (four  to  six)  inches  long, 
and  in  the  dried  specimens  of  a  brownish  straw-color,  becom- 
ing nearly  black  at  tiie  base.  They  bear  a  icw  large  ferrugi- 
nous chaffy  scales,  and  are  deeply  channelled  and  furrowed.  The 
fibro-vascular  system  of  the  stalk  is  altered  by  contraction  in 
drying,  but  apparently  agrees  witli  Dr.  Milde's  description  of 
Athyriitm :    "  There   are   t\\  o   oblong  peripheric   bundles   in   the 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMKRlCi 


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base  of  the  stalk,  which,  at  the  Ijasc  of  tlic  lamina,  arc  united 
into  one  of  a  horsc-shoc  shape  by  an  arc  parallel  to  the  back  of 
the  stalk."  In  the  niicklle  of  a  stalk  from  one  of  the  California 
specimens  I  fmtl  two  systems  of  ducts,  one  on  each  side  of  the 
stalk,  and  the  two  united  by  a  curved  and  contorted  border  of 
firm  blackish  tissue  (sclerenchyma). 

The  fronds  are  from  one  to  two  feet  long,  and  from  three 
to  six  inches  wide.  In  general  shape  they  arc  oblong-lanceolate, 
acuminate,  and  slightly  narrowed  at  the  base.  The  texture  is 
s(jftly  membranaceous,  and  both  surfaces  are  smooth.  The 
primary  pinn.-e  are  numerous,  the  lower  ones  gradually  farther 
apart :  their  shape  is  lanceolate  from  a  broad  base.  They  are 
usually  twice  pinnatifid,  the  pinnules  being  connected  by  a  very 
narrow  foliaceous  border  along  the  midribs.  The  ultimate  seg- 
ments are  shai^ily  toothed.  The  fruit-dots  are  very  abundant, 
and  usually  are  found  on  all  the  pinnae.  They  arc  placed  on 
the  back  of  the  free  vcinlets,  and  are  apparently  devoid  of  indu- 
sium ;  though  Dr.  Mettcnius  has  discovered  on  young  fronds  an 
exceedingly  delicate  and  fugitive  indusium,  resembling  in  some 
degree  that  of  Asplcnium  §  Atliyyium.  Accordingly,  in  his  later 
work,  he  referred  the  species  to  the  genus  Asplcnium,  placing  it 
next  to  A.  Filix-fcemina.  Mildc,  in  his  work  on  the  ferns  of 
Europe  and  Atlantis,  sought  to  re-establish  Atliyfiuin  as  a 
genus,  and  placed  this  fern  in  it,  saying  "  sori  .  .  .  rotundi, 
primum  brcviter  oblongi  indusio  fugaci  minutissimo  ciliato 
instructi."  The  spores  are  ovoid,  and  apparently  covered  with 
anastomosing  raised  lines.  Those  I  have  examined  are  fus- 
cous-brown, but  Milde  says  "  sub-nigras  verrucosae." 


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FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


There  is  a  European  var.  flexilis,  with  very  narrow,  nearly 
sessile  fronds,  and  the  pinnae  often  deflexed,  which  has  not  been 
observed  in  America. 

Undoubtedly  the  greatest  resemblance  of  this  fern  is  to  the 
lady-fern,  Asplenium  Filix-foemina ;  but  that  species  has  a  very 
well-developed  indusium,  while  the  minute  objects  delineated  by 
Mettenius  scarcely  deserve  the  name. 

The  stalks  are  Cicariy  ( ontinuous  with  the  root-stock ;  and 
for  this  reason  the  plant  is  plainly  not  a  Polypodium,  whatever 
else  it  may  finally  be  determined  to  be. 

Plate  XXIII..  Fig.  2.  —  Pkcgopteris  alpestris :  a  specimen  collected 
in  the  California  Sierra  by  Professor  Brewer  in   1862. 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


»75 


PijVTE  XXIII.  — Fig.  2. 

ASPIDIUM    FRAGRANS,  Swartz. 

Fragrant  Wood-Fern. 

AspiDiuM  FRAGRANS  :  —  Root-stock  short  and  stout,  very 
chaffy,  with  ample  bright-brown  glossy  scales,  which  also  abound 
on  the  short  clustered  stalks,  and  extend,  diminishing  in  size, 
nearly  to  the  top  of  the  frond ;  fronds  rigid  -  membranaceous, 
glandular,  aromatic,  four  to  ten  inches  long,  six  to  twenty-four 
lines  wide,  lanceolate,  acuminate,  narrowed  from  the  middle  to 
the  base,  bipinnate ;  pinnae  numerous,  oblong-lanceolate ;  pin- 
nules many,  one  to  two  lines  long,  oblong,  obtuse,  adnate  by 
a  decurrent  base,  pinnately  incised  with  very  minute  crenated 
teeth,  or  in  smaller  fronds  nearly  entire,  the  back  nearly  hidden 
by  the  large  thin  imbricating  indusia,  which  are  orbicular  with 
a  narrow  sinus,  and  more  or  less  toothed  and  glandular  around 
the  margin. 

Aspidium  fragrans,  Swartz,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  51. — Wii.ldenow,  Sp.  PI.,  v., 

p.  253.  —  Hooker,  in  "Parry's  2tl  Voy.,  App.,  p.  410  ; "  Fl.  Bor. 

Am.,  p.  410.  —  RuPREciiT,  Disir.  Crypt.  Vase.  Imp.  Ross.,  p.  35. 

—  MEmENius,  Aspicl.,  p.  56. —  Gray.  Manual,  ed.  2,  p.  598. — 

MiLDE,  Fil.  Fur.  ct  Atlant.,  p.  117. 
Polypodium  fragrans,  Linn/EUS,  Sp.  PI.,  p.  1550. 
Polystichum  fragrans,  Ledebour,  "  Fl.  Ross.,  iv.,  p.  514."  —  Maximowicz, 

Prim.  Fl.  Amur.,  p.  339. 


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176 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


Dryoptcris  fragrans,  Scuorr,  Gen.  Fil.,  Obscrv.  .sub  Polysticho. 

Nephrodium  fragrans,  Riciiard.son,  "  App.  to  Frankl.  Journ.,  p.  753  "  — 
HooKKR  &  Grkvii.i.k,  Ic.  Fil.,  t.  l.\x.  —  HooKKK,  -Sp.  Fil.,  iv., 
p.   122.  —  HooKKK  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  275. 

Dryoptcris  riibum  ideeum  spirans,  Ammann,  "Ruth.,  p.  251." 

Hah.  —  In  crevices  of  shaded  cliffs,  ant!  on  mossy  rocks,  especially 
near  cascades  and  rivulei"--,  from  Northern  New  Fngland  to  Wisconsin, 
and  northward  to  Arctic  America.  Also  in  the  Caucasus,  and  in  Siberia, 
Mantchooria,  and  Kamtschatka.  Special  American  localities  are  Mount 
Kineo,  Maine,  A.  H.  and  C.  F.  Smith  ;  at  Berlin  Falls,  the  "  Alpine  Cas- 
cade," and  the  "Gulch,"  all  near  the  White  Mountains,  H.  Wili.ky;  Mount 
Mansfield,  Vermont,  C.  G.  Princi.e  ;  l^ke  Avalanche,  Adirondack  Moun- 
tains, New  York,  C.  H.  Peck  ;  Falls  of  St.  Croix,  Wisconsin,  C.  C.  Parkv, 
and  on  the  Penokee  Iron  Range,  in  the  same  State,  Lapiiam  ;  Saguenay 
River,  Canada,  D.  A.  Wait.  It  is  apparently  more  common  farther  north  : 
Sitka,  lliuliuk,  Unalaska,  Arakamtchetchene,  Kotzebue  Bay,  Igloolik,  Riltcn- 
bcnk  in  Greenland,  and  several  other  places,  arc  recorded  as  stations  for  it. 

Description. — The  root-stock  is  rather  .stout,  ascending  or 
erect ;  and  its  apparent  thickness  is  much  increased  by  the  per- 
sistent bases  of  stalks,  which  also  give  it  a  dense  covering  of 
broad  bright-brown  chaffy  scales.  The  fronds,  frequently  to  the 
number  of  si.x  or  eight,  besides  old  and  shrivelled  ones,  stand  in 
a  crown  at  the  upper  end  of  the  root-stocks,  resting  on  stalks 
from  one  to  four  inches  long,  which  are  usually  very  chaffy,  the 
chaff  continued  along  the  rachis  and  midribs,  though  composed 
of  smaller  scales  than  those  lower  down.  The  fronds  are  from 
three  or  four  to  ten  inches  in  length ;  and  the  greatest  breadth, 
just  above  the  middle,  is  from  one-fifth  to  one-sixth  of  the  length. 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


177 


The  outline  is  exactly  lanceolate,  as  the  apex  is  acute,  and  the 
lower  part  gradually  tapering  to  a  somewhat   narrowed   base. 
The  fronds  are  delicately,  but  densely,  bipinnate.      In  a  frond 
nine  inches  long  there  are  about  thirty  primary  pinnae  on  each 
side,  and  in  one  of  the  middle  pinnae  about  ten  oblong-ovate 
obtuse  pinnately-incised  pinnules  on  each  side.    The  pinnules  are 
from  a  line  to  two  lines  long,  and  are  adnate  to  the  secondary 
rachis  by  a  more  or  less  decurrent  base.     In  large  fronds  the 
teeth  of  the  pinnules  are  again  crenately  toothed ;  but  in  small 
specimens  the  pinnules  themselves  are   entire,  or  but   slightly 
toothed.     Two  sterile  fronds  collected  by  Professor  M.  W.  Har- 
rington, in  Uiuliuk,  Alaska,  are  broadly  ovate-lanceolate  in  outline, 
and  have  acute  primary  pinnae ;  and  other  specimens,  some  from 
Eastern  Canada,  collected  by  Mr.  Watt,  and  some  from  North- 
ern Wisconsin,  collected  by  Mr.  Lapham,  are  much  slenderer  and 
less  scaly  than  usual.    This  is  the  var.  ^  of  Hooker.     Usually 
the  fronds  are  rather  rigid,  full-green  above,  a  little  paler  be- 
neath, and  both  surfaces,  together  with  the  rachis,  especially  the 
canal  along  the  upper  side  of  the  rachis,  are  dotted  with  very 
minute   pellucid  pale  amber-colored  glands.     The  fronds  com- 
monly fruit  very  fully,  even  the   lowest   pinna  bearing  sporan- 
gia.   The  indusia  are  very  large,  thin,  orbicr.iar,  with  a  narrow 
sinus,  more  or  less  ragged  or  toothed  and  gland-bearing  at  the 
margin,  and  are  so  dense  as  to  overlap  each  other,  and  nearly 
conceal  the  back  of  the  pinnules.     The  spores  are  ovoid,  and 
have  a  minutely  verrucose  or  warty  surface. 

The  pleasant  odor  of  the  plant  remains  many  years  in  the 


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178 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


herbarium.  The  early  writers  compare  the  fragrance  to  that  of 
raspberries,  and  Milde  repeats  the  observation.  Hooker  and 
Greville  thought  it  "not  unlike  that  of  the  common  primrose." 
Maximowicz  states  that  the  odor  is  sometimes  lacking.  Milde 
quotes  Redovvsky  as  saying  that  the  Yakoots  of  Siberia  use  the 
plant  in  place  of  tea ;  and,  having  tried  the  experiment  myself, 
I  can  testify  to  the  not  unpleasant  and  very  fragrant  astringency 
of  the  infusion. 


The  illustration  is  taken  from  a  plant  collected  by  Mr.  D.  A.  Watt 
on  the  Saguenay  River,  in  Canada. 


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FERNS  OK  NORl'H  AMERICA. 


179 


PiJVTE  XXIV.  — Fig.  i. 

TRICHOMANES    RADICANS,  Swartz. 

Alabama  Bristle-Pern. 

Trichomanes  RADICANS :  —  Root-stock  slender,  widely  creep- 
ing; fronds  very  delicate,  pellucid,  smooth,  borne  on  short  winged 
stalks,  lanceolate  or  ovate-lanceolate,  lour  to  eight  inches  high, 
six  to  eighteen  lines  broad  (larger  in  foreign  specimens),  bipinnati- 
fid;  rachis  winged  throughout;  pinnns  triangular-ovate,  obtuse, 
the  upper  side  of  the  base  closely  parallel  to  the  rachis,  the  lower 
cuneate ;  divisions  toothed,  or  divided  into  linear  lobes  ;  involu- 
cres usually  terminal  on  the  lowest  superior  lobe  of  a  division, 
or  on  several  lobes,  tubular  funnel-form,  margined,  truncate  at  the 
mouth,  and  slightly  two-lipped ;  columella  bristle-like,  rising  from 
the  bottom  of  the  involucre,  more  or  less  exserted,  the  included 
portion  bearing  the  sporangia. 

Tricltoinanes  mdicans,  Swartz,  F1.  Ind.  Occ,  p.  1736;  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  143. — 
WiLLDENow,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  513.  —  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  L,  p.  125. — 
Gray,  in  Am.  Jour.  Sc.  and  Arts,  May,  1853,  p.  325.  —  Eaton,  in 
Chapman's  Flora,  p.  597.  —  Hooickr  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  81. — 
F^E,  Hist.  Foug.  et  Lycop.  d.  Antilles,  p.  109.  —  Williamson, 
Ferns  of  Kentucky,  p.  123,  t.  xlviii. 

Trichomanes  scandcns,  Hedwig,  Fil.  Gen.  et  Sp.  (with  a  plate),  not  of 
Linnaeus. 

Trichomanes  Boschianum,  Sturm,  in  litt.  —  Van  den  Bosch,  Hymenoph. 
Syn.  Suppl.,  p.  160. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


Hab.  —  On  shaded  and  overhanging  sandstone  cliffs,  constantly 
moistened  by  percolation  or  by  spray.  First  discovered  by  Hon.  T.  M. 
Pi'TKRs  in  Winston  (formerly  Hancock)  County,  Alabama,  in  July,  1852, 
and  later  in  the  same  year  found  by  Mr.  J.  F.  Beaumont  in  Franklin 
County,  and  by  both  gentlemen  in  Lawrence  County.  Afterwards  it  was 
detected  in  the  Cumberland  Mountains  of  Eastern  Tennessee  by  Rev. 
Dr.  Curtis.  It  was  discovered  in  Carter  County,  Kentucky,  in  1872,  by 
Dr.  H.  Hill,  as  stated  by  Mr.  Williamson.  In  1873  Professor  John  Hus- 
SEY  also  found  it  in  Carter  County,  and  in  Edmonson  and  Barren  Coun- 
ties. It  has  since  been  collected  in  Laurel  and  Rockcastle  Counties  by 
Mrs.  Yandell,  Miss  Rule,  and  Dr.  Crosier;  and  will  doubtless  be  found 
in  other  places  in  the  States  of  Alabama,  Tennessee,  and  Kentucky. 

Description.  —  The  Alabama  bristle-fern,  as  it  may  be 
called  to  distinguish  it  from  the  forms  of  Trichomanes  radi- 
cans  growing  in  other  countries,  is  by  far  the  most  delicate  of 
the  ferns  of  the  United  States.  The  root-stock  is  blackish 
and  fibrillose,  especially  the  newer  portions,  with  very  slender 
and  minute  dark  blackish -brown  chaffy  hairs.  It  is  creep- 
ing, and  not  unfrequently  a  foot  in  length,  while  the  thickness 
is  less  than  a  line.  The  fronds  are  scattered  along  the  whole 
length  of  the  root-stock :  they  arc  from  three  to  seven  inches 
long,  and  less,  sometimes  much  1f"ss,  than  two  inches  wide. 
They  rest  on  short  stalks,  which  are  winged  from  the  very 
base,  the  wing  continuing  along  the  rachis  to  the  top  of  the 
frond.  The  fronds  are  lanceolate  or  ovate-lanceolate  in  shape, 
and  are  bipinnatifid,  or  even  tripinnatifid.  The  pinnae  are  trian- 
gular-ovate or  rhomboidal,  the  lower  ones  a  little  shorter  and 
broader  than  those  in  the  middle.     They  are  divided  into  nar- 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


i8i 


row  oblong  obtuse  lobes,  or  into  segments  cotr»Dosed  of  several 
such  lobes.  The  midvein  is  pinnatcly  branched,  and  from  the 
veins  single  vcinlots  e.xtcnd  through  the  middle  of  every  lobe. 
The  frond  is  smooth  throughout,  and,  excepting  the  veins,  Is 
composed  of  a  single  layer  of  slightly  elongated  hexagonal  cells, 
the  middle  of  each  cell  vacant  and  transparent,  the  chlorophyl 
consisting  of  minute  grains  lining  the  ccll-w'll.'  The  fruit, 
when  it  is  present,  is  formed  at  the  ends  of  ihe  lower  lobes 
of  the  divisions  or  segments  of  the  pinna,',  and  consists  of 
little  funnel-shaped  cups,  narrowly  wing-  'Uirgined,  and  having 
an  ^Jl>^.curcly  two-lipped  orifice.  From  the  botti-ui  of  this  cup 
there  rises  -•'  slender  dark-colored  bristle-like  receptacle  or  colu- 
mella, on  the  sides  of  which,  inside  the  cup,  ire  borne  the 
top-shaped  sporangia.  These  have  a  nearly  horizontal  coiuj>lcte 
elastic  ring.     The  spores  are  ovoid  and  obscurely  papillose. 

A  careful  description  of  the  mode  of  growth  of  this  most 
interesting  fern  was  written  by  Professor  John  Hussey,  and 
published  by  Mr.  Williamson  in  his  "  Ferns  of  Kentucky." 
Another  account,  by  the  same  close  observer,  was  publisheil  in 
"The  Independent"  of  Feb.  25,  1875:  — 

"  I  discovered  it  growing  in  more  than  a  dozen  localities  under  the 
Green  River  Country  cliffs.  It  was  found  in  every  instance  on  the  under 
side  of  an  overhanging  rock,  generally  considerably  withdrawn  from  tlie 
light,  never  reached  by  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun.     It  does  best  on  a  moist 

'  See  the  elaborate  monograph  on  the  structure  of  llymcnophyllacccB  by  Dr. 
Mcttenius,  wherein  the  various  forms  of  cells  and  dispositions  of  chlorophyl  arc 
described  and  figured. 


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l82 


FKRNS  OF   NORTH   AMF.RICA. 


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11 


rock,  where  it  is  bedewed  by  spray  from  falling  water,  or  where  the  clear 
water  trickling  from  hidden  springs  keeps  the  fronds  constantly  moist,  and 
where  the  fine  drops  hang  trombling  on  tl  c  pendent  fronds  before  falling. 
Each  frond  of  this  fern  has  an  interesting  history.  From  first  to  last,  they 
live  many  years.  The  whole  under  surface  of  the  rock  is  one  matted  mass 
of  roots  and  stems,  covered  with  innumerable  translucent  fronds,  in  all 
stages  of  growth  and  maturity.  The  young  frond  gradually  e.xpands,  and 
slowly  attains  full  size.  In  two  or  three  years,  perhaps,  the  fruit  begins  to 
develop  on  the  edges  of  the  fronds,  at  the  tips  of  the  veins.  This  fruit 
is  clustered  in  a  cup  around  a  fine  hair  which  comes  from  its  centre.  The 
hair,  or  bristle,  continues  to  grow  in  length,  anil  the  fruit  to  develop  at  it:; 
base  around  it.  As  the  bristle  grows  in  length  —  sometimes  it  is  found 
an  inch  long  —  llie  ripe  fruit  is  shed,  so  tiiat  ilicre  remains  about  the 
same  quantity  of  fruit  always  at  tlie  base  of  the  hair.  The  whole  life  of 
the  frond  may  be  half  a  dozen  years." 

Our  plant  differs  from  the  original  plant  of  Swartz,  from 
the  West  Indies,  only  in  its  somewhat  smaller  size;  and,  if  not 
specifically  identical  with  tlie  Killarney  bristle-fern,  then  ///<?/  is 
to  be  called  T.  speciosinn  (Willdenow),  and  ours  should  keep  the 
name  of  T.  nidicans.  The  name  proposed  by  Sturm,  and  pub- 
lished with  a  long  description  by  Van  den  Bosch,  is  wholly 
superfluous. 

Plate  XXIV.,  [-"ig.  i.  —  Triclwmanes  radicaiis :  a  plant  with  four 
fronds  in  various  stages  of  development.  The  magnified  parts  suffi- 
ciently explain  themselves. 


ill 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


183 


^1 


Pi^\TE  XXIV.  — Fig.  2. 

TRICHOMANES    PETERSII,  Gray. 

Peters's  Bristle-Fern. 

Trichomanes  Petersii  :  —  A  tiny  plant,  growing  in  broad 
patches:  root-stocks  threadlike;  fronds  two  to  six  lines  long, 
cuncate-obovate  or  oblong-lanceolate,  entire  or  variously  lobed, 
narrowed  into  a  slender  stalk  as  long  as  the  frond,  the  younger 
ones  often  with  a  few  forked  blackish  hairs  along  the  margin  ; 
veins  forked,  pinnate  from  a  midvein,  a  few  unconnected  vein- 
lets  also  present,  but  no  marginal  vein ;  involucre  solitary,  ter- 
minal, funnel-form,  the  mouth  expanding,  and  slightly  two-lipped  ; 
columella  scarcely  exsertcd. 

Trichomanes  Petersii,  Gray,  in  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  May,  1S53,  p.  326. 
—  Hooki:r,  Ic.  pi.,  .\.,  t.  986.  —  V.w  ni;N  Boscii,  Syn.  Hymcno- 
phyllaccariim,  p.  15.  —  E.vton,  in  Chapman's  Flora,  p.  597. — 
HoQiCEK  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  74. 

Microgotiium  Petersii,  Van  dkn  Boscii,   Hymenoph.  Javan.,  p.   7. 

Hah.  —  In  the  shade,  on  sand-rock  kept  moist  by  running  water, 
near  the  Sipscy  River  in  Winston  County,  Alabama :  discovered  by  Hon. 
Thomas  Minott  Peters  Jan.  8,  1853,  and  since  gathered  by  the  same 
naturalist  in  other  neighboring  places.  The  Florida  station,  mentioned 
in  Chapman's  Flora,  needs  confirmation,  and  is  very  possibly  an  error. 


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1 84 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


I 


Description.  —  This  is  altogether  the  tiniest  of  all  our 
ferns,  and  can  be  compared  only  with  some  closely -related 
species  from  tropical  regions.  The  plant  grows  on  the  face  of 
moist  sand-rock  in  great  patches,  often  three  or  four  feet  in 
extent,  and  always  near  running  water.  The  little  fronds  are 
variable  in  shape,  but  in  general  are  cuneate-obovate,  with  the 
margin  wavy,  and  often  somewhat  lobed.  The  texture  is  finer 
and  more  opaque  than  that  of  T.  radicans,  the  cells  irregularly 
sub-quadrate,  and  the  chlorophyl  grains  spherical  and  very  dis- 
tinct. There  is  usually  a  central  vein,  with  several  simple  or 
more  often  forked  veinlets  on  each  side,  and,  beside  them,  a 
few  free  disconnected  veinlets,  the  so-called  venules  spuria. 
Along  the  margin,  on  the  younger  fronds,  are  seen  a  few  sim- 
ple or  usually  widely-forking  blackish  hairs,  which  also  occur 
on  several  foreign  species,  as  T.  punctatum,  T.  reptans,  T.  pusil- 
lum,  etc.  The  solitary  involucre  terminates  the  midvein,  and  is 
sunken  in  the  frond :  it  is  funnel-shaped,  with  a  somewhat  flaring 
and  slightly  two-lipped  mouth.  The  receptacle,  or  columella,  is 
included,  or  rarely  a  little  exserted. 

The  sporangia  are  like  those  of  T.  radicans. 

Plate  XXIV.,  Fig.  2.  —  Tricfiomanes  rmersii :  a  group  of  fronds, 
the  natural  size,  and  one  considerably  enlarged,  showing  the  involucre, 
venation,  etc. 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


185 


Plate  XXIV.  — Fig.  3. 

SCHIZyEA    PUSILLA,  Pursh. 

New-Jersey  Schizaea. 

Scniz.EA  PUSILLA  :  —  Plant  tufted ;  sterile  fronds  linear, 
flattened  and  tortuous,  very  slender,  barely  one-fourth  of  a  line 
wide  and  scarcely  an  inch  long ;  fertile  ones  almost  as  slender, 
but  straighter,  three  to  four  inches  high,  bearing  at  the  top  the 
fertile  appendage,  consisting  of  about  five  pairs  of  close-placed 
oblong  pinuc-e,  the  lowest  not  more  than  two  lines  long,  each 
bearing  on  one  face  a  double  row  of  sessile  ovate  sporangia 
having  an  apical  radiated  cap-like  ring. 

Schizaa  pusilla,  Puusii,  Fl.  Am.,  Sept.,  ii.,  p.  657.  —  Hooker  &  Greville, 
Ic.  Fil.,  t.  xlviii.  —  Pur.si.,  Siippl.,  p.  74. —  Gray,  Manual,  ed.  i, 
p.  634;  ed.  2,  p.  600,  t.  13.  — Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  42S. 

Schizaa  lorttiosa,  Muhlenberg,  Catal.,  p.  102. 

Hah.  —  Central  and  eastern  counties  of  New  Jersey,  usually  in  the 
dryer  parts  of  sphagnous  swamps,  among  white  cedars.  First  found 
about  1S13,  at  Quaker  Bridge,  by  Dr.  Eddy.  Near  Tom's  River,  Dr.  Tor- 
rey,  August,  1S32.  Kettle  'Jreek,  Ocean  County,  Dr.  Kxieskern.  .Since 
collected  in  several  places  in  the  san^e  general  region  by  various  per- 
sons. Erroneously  reported  as  found  in  Orleans  County,  New  York,  and 
in  Newfoundland. 

DiiSCRiPTioN.  —  The  root-stock  is  horizontal  and  creeping, 
but  very   minute.     It   bears   several   sterile  fronds,  and  two  or 


'iiE 


1| 


i86 


FERNS  OF  NORTH    »MERICA. 


three  fertile  ones.  The  sterile  fronds  are  very  much  contorted 
and  curled.  They  are  not  over  an  inch  long,  and  are  very  slen- 
der. In  section  they  are  nearly  flat  on  one  fate,  and  slightly 
convex  on  the  other,  and  show  a  single  minute  central  vascular 
thread.  The  surface  is  minutely  striated.  The  fertile  fronds 
are  no  broader  than  the  sterile,  but  are  a  little  thicker :  they  are 
slightly  tortuous,  or  nearly  straight,  and  rise  to  the  height  of 
three  or  four  inches.  The  fertile  appendage  at  the  top  is  about 
a  quarter  of  an  inch  long:  it  is  ovate  in  shape,  and  composed 
of  four  to  six  pairs  of  oblong-clavate  pinnae,  the  lowest  only  two 
lines  long.  The  two  sides  of  the  appendage  are  usually  folded 
together,  at  least  in  the  dried  specimens.  Examined  under  a 
microscope,  each  pinna  of  the  appendage  is  found  to  be  con- 
cave, or  boat-shaped,  having  a  broad  thickened  keel,  and  thin 
sides  co'nposed  of  obliquely-placed  elongated  transparent  cells. 
The  margin  bears  a  few  one-celled  amber-colored  flattened  hairs. 
Resting  in  the  boat,  like  a  double  row  of  jugs,  are  eight  or  ten 
ovate  sporangia,  their  side-walls  of  oblong,  tortuous -margined 
cells,  and  the  ring  represented  by  a  radiated  apical  cap.  The 
spores  are  ovoid-reniform,  and  have  a  smooth  surface. 

The  genus  Schizcea  consists  of  about  sixteen  species,  most 
of  them  tropical  or  sub- tropical.  One  species  occurs  in  the 
Falkland  and  Auckland  Islands,  two  in  New  Zealand,  two  in 
Cape  Colony,  and  several  in  South  America. 

Plate  XXIV.,  Fig.  3.  —  Schizaa  pusilla  : — From  specimens  sent  by 
Mr.  C.  F.  Parker  of  Camden,  New  Jersey.  The  details  require  no  special 
explanation. 


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AnniilriniJ  J.-  '.\  i.;'j\  bo^ilun 


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'   II 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


187 


Plate  XXV. 


ASPIDIUM    MUNITUM,  Kaulfuss. 


Chamisso's  Shield-Pern. 

AspiDiUM  MUNITUM:  —  Root-stock  stout,  short,  ascending; 
stalks  a  few  inches  to  a  foot  long,  usually  chaffy  like  the 
rachis,  with  abundant  glossy-brown  ovate -acuminate  scales; 
fronds  standing  in  a  crown,  sub-coriaceous,  evergreen,  one  to 
four  or  five  feet  long,  lanceolate,  slightly  narrowed  at  the  base, 
pinnate;  pinnae  very  many,  often  chaffy  beneath,  one  to  four 
inches  long,  linear-acuminate,  very  sharply  and  often  doubly  ser- 
rate with  incurved  aculeate  teeth,  auricled  at  the  upper  side  of 
the  nearly  sessile  base,  and  obliquely  truncate  at  the  lower,  all 
or  only  the  upper  ones  fertile,  but  not  contracted  ;  veins  free, 
once  or  twice  forked  ;  sori  abundant  in  a  row  each  side  the 
midrib,  also  on  the  auricles,  often  sub-marginal ;  indusium 
orbicular,  peltate,  the  margin  either  entire  or  incised  with  hair- 
pointed  teeth. 

Aspidium  munilum,  Kaulfuss,  Enum.  Fil,  p.  236.  —  Hooker  &  Arnott, 
Bet.  Beechey  Voy.,  pp.  162,  405.  —  Hooker,  F1.  Bor.  Am.,  ii., 
p.  261  ;  Sp.  Fil.,  iv.,  p.  10.  t.  219.  —  Mettenius,  Aspidium,  p.  41. 
—  Eaton,  Ferns  of  the  South-West,  ined. 

Polystichum  munitum,  Presl,  Tent.  Pterid.,  p.  83.  —  Ruprecht,  Dist.  Crypt. 
Vase.  Imp.  Ross.,  p.  39.  —  Brackenridge,  Filices  of  the  U.  S.  Expl. 
Exped.,  p.  203.  —  Eaton,  in  Bot.  of  Max.  Boundary,  p.  235. 


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1 88 


FERNS  OF   NORTH    AMERICA. 


Ncphrodium  Plumula,  I'kicsl,  Reli(|.  ll.icnk.,  p.  33. 

Po/vsiic/iuiH  Plumiila,  Prksi,,  Tent.  Ptcriil.,  p.  83. 

Aspidium  acrosticlwidcs,  II(K)kf.r,  in  IJenthain,  Plant.  Hartwcg.,  p.  342,  not 

of  Swartz,  nor  of  I  looker  in  Sp.  I-il. 
Polysluhnm  Jii/fitulliini,  (>•  Moork,  Ind.  I'll,,  j).  97. 

Var.  inidaliim ; — I'Vonii  smaller,  the  chaff  almost  entirely  iackinpf; 
pinn:e  few  and  rather  remote,  short  and  broad,  oblong -oval,  slightly 
aiiricled,  the  teeth  closely  appressed ;  sori  scanty,  confined  to  the  ends 
of  the  few  highest  pinn.e. 

\'ar.  iiuhricaiis : — Frond  below  medium  size,  not  narroweil  at  the 
base  ;  pinna;  crowded,  lanceolate-oblong,  pale,  ascending,  and  imbricated ; 
sori  sub-marginal ;  stalk  with  lance-acuminate  shining  brown  scales  at  the 
base,  otherwise  almost  nakeil,  as  are  the  rachis  and  frond. 

Var.  inciso-scrratiim  : — I'Vond  ample;  iiinnrc  lance-acuminate  from 
a  conspicuously  auricled  base,  incised  with'  serrated  teeth  ;  veins  branched 
into  live  or  six  veinlets  ;  sori  scattered. 


Hab. —  Described  by  Kaulfuss  in  1824  from  specimens  collected  near 
San  Francisco  in  1816  by  .^delbert  von  Ciiamisso.  It  is  said,  however, 
to  have  been  gathered  many  years  before  at  Nutka  Sound  by  Arciiiuai.d 
Menzif.s.  It  is  found  among  rocks  and  in  forests,  sometimes  very  abun- 
dantly, from  (juadalupe  Island  and  San  Dit^go,  California,  northward  to 
British  Columbia,  but  not  known  east  of  the  Sierra.  The  finest  speci- 
mens are  from  forests  near  the  coast,  from  Mendocino  County,  California, 
to  Southern  Oregon.  \'ar.  nudalum  was  collected  at  the  Nevada  I'all, 
Yoscmitc  Valley,  by  Professor  Wood.  Var.  imbricans,  in  Plumas  County, 
by  Mrs.  Ausnx,  at  Retl  Mountain,  Mendocino  County,  Dr.  Kellogg,  and 
is  prol)ably  not  uncommon.  A  form  connecting  these  two  varieties  was 
found  in  the  Trinity- Kiver  mountains  by  Professor  Wood,  and  at  Moore's 


FERNS  OK   NORIH    AMKRICA. 


189 


Mat,  ^'lll)a  River,  liy  an  utiknuwn  collector.     Var.  iiiciso-serratum  comes 
from  British  L'oliimljia,  Dr.  I.vai.i.  and  Professor  Macoun. 

Dhscription.  —  Chamis OS  shield-ferii,  as  it  may  appro- 
priately be  called,  is,  when  well  I'rown  and  fully  fruited,  one  of 
the  very  finest  of  the  North- A-ierican  ferns.  The  root-stock 
is  short  and  thick,  and  covc»-ed  with  the  remains  of  old  stalks, 
as  in  most  of  our  .'Ispiiiia.  The  fronds  stand  in  a  crown,  or 
circle,  and  measure  from  one  to  five  feet  high,  according  to  the 
strength  of  the  plant,  and  the  nature  of  the  climate  and  soil 
where  it  occurs.  I'rom  one-sixth  to  one-fourth  of  this  height 
is  in  the  stalk,  which  is  strong,  rounded  at  the  back,  and  has, 
when  living,  a  broad  shallow  channel  in  front ;  but  in  the 
dried  specimen  the  furrow  is  deep  and  narrow.  A  section  shows 
a  broad  exterior  band  of  firm  tissue,  and  five  interior  roundish 
fibm-vascular  bundles,  arranged  in  a  curve  of  two-thirds  of  a 
circle,  the  bundles  at  the  ends  of  the  curve  much  larger  than 
the  other  three. 

The  stalk  and  rachis  are  usually  very  chaffy ;  but  the  chaff 
is  nearly  or  quite  wanting,  except  at  the  base  of  the  stalk,  in  the 
first  two  varieties  named  above.  The  chaff  consists  of  bright- 
brown  ovate-lanceolate  acuminate  scales,  nine  to  twelve  lines 
long,  constantly  growing  smaller  upwards,  and  intermixed  with 
others  very  much  smaller.  The  large  basal  scales  appear  to 
have  Tn  entire  edge,  and  are  usually  of  one  shade  of  bright 
glossy  brown  ;  but  sometimes  they  are  heavier,  and  with  a  broad 
dark-brown  median  band.  The  smaller  scales  are  more  or  less 
laciniately  ciliate,  and  those  of  the  upper  part  of  the  rachis  are 
regularly  ciliated. 


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I 


190 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


The  fronds  arc  lanceolate  in  outline,  usually  a  little  narrower 
at  the  base  than  in  the  middle.  They  arc  almost  coriaceous,  and 
apparently  evergreen,  since  specimens  in  pretty  y^ood  order  were 
collected  in  January,  May,  Aujfust,  and  November.  The  color 
is  a  good  bright  green,  somewhat  paler,  or  in  varieties  nudatum 
and  imbricans  almost  glaucous,  beneath.  In  the  normal  plant 
the  pinnae  are  very  numerous,  one  of  Professor  Brewer's  Cres- 
cent-City specimens  having  over  seventy  on  each  side.  In 
these  splendid  fronds  the  pinnae  are  fully  four  inches  long, 
nearly  straight,  wide -spreading,  and  linear-acuminate  from  a 
base  which  has  an  acute  ovate  auricle  on  the  upper  side,  and 
is  cut  away  obliquely  on  the  lower.  The  under  surface  bears  a 
few  minute  long-pointed  ciliate  scales,  especially  along  the  mid- 
vein  and  on  the  veinlets.  The  margin  is  sharply  serrated  with 
oblique  or  incurved  aculeate  teeth,  which  very  often  bear  a  much 
smaller  tooth  on  each  side  of  the  base.  The  veins  are  pinnate 
from  the  midvein,  there  being  about  forty  to  forty-five  principal 
veins  on  each"  side.  Each  vein  is  forked  near  its  base,  the  upper 
fork  or  veinlet  running  unbranched  to  the  margin,  and  the  lower 
fork  divided  into  two  veinlets,  the  upper  one  of  which,  and  some- 
times the  lower  also,  is  commonly  again  similarly  forked.  The 
uppermost  veinlet  of  each  group  usually  bears  a  sorus  rather 
nearer  the  margin  than  the  midvein  ;  and  in  heavily-fruited  fronds 
the  lowest  veinlet  of  each  group  is  sometimes  also  fertile,  in  this 
case  bearing  the  sorus  still  nearer  the  margin  than  the  primary 
row  of  sori. 

The  sporangia,  as  they  ripen,  develop  a  longer  and  longer 


■■■ 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


191 


pedicel,  so  that,  when  fully  matured,  tlic  pedicel  is  several  times 
as  long  as  the  sporangium,  and  the  fruit  almost  entirely  covers 
the  back  of  the  pinn.c.  The  indusium  is  orbicular  and  peltate, 
as  in  all  the  Aspidia  of  the  section  l\)lysticlium.  It  is  usually 
somewhat  jagged  at  the  edge,  the  teeth  running  out  into  slend(;r 
jointed  hairs ;  but  on  some  plants  it  seems  to  be  entire,  and  with 
no  marginal  hairs. 

Var.  iimlatum  is  so  unlike  the  type  of  the  species,  that,  if  it 
had  been  sent  from  some  other  country  than  California,  it  would 
not  have  been  referreil  to  this  species.  The  pinnae  are  compara- 
tively few  in  number,  broadly  oval-oblong  in  shape,  the  auricle 
scantily  developed,  and  the  chaff  almost  entirely  lacking.  The 
base  of  the  stalk  is  not  preserved  in  the  specimens  I  have  seen ; 
but  it  is  very  probable  that  it  was  covered  with  narrow  scales 
as  in  the  next  variety. 

Var.  imbricans,  though  chaffy  enough  at  the  base,  has  the 
frond  nearly  smooth.  The  pinnae  are  lanceolate-oblong,  crowded, 
very  rigid,  and  usually  directed  obliquely  upwards,  so  as  to  lap 
over  each  other.  It  looks  like  a  plant  grown  in  a  hot  and  dry 
place,  and  passes  by  gradations  into  the  type  on  one  side,  and 
into  var.  nudatum  on  the  other. 

Var.  inciso-sermtum  corresponds  to  var.  inciswn  of  As- 
pidium  acrostichoides,  and  is  represented  by  large  and  broad 
fronds,  with  broad  pinnae  incised  one-third  or  one-fourth  of  the 
way  down  to  the  midvein.  Each  group  of  veinlets  consists  of 
from  five  to  seven,  three  or  four  of  them  often  soriferous. 

The  North-American  ferns  most  closely  related  to  Aspidium 


1 


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192 


IKRNS   OF    NORTH    AMERICA. 


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munitum  arc  A.  Lojichiiis,  figured  and  described  in  our  last  part, 
and  A.  acrostic /loicfes  of  the  eastern  side  of  the  continent.  From 
the  former  it  is  distinguished  by  the  usually  long  and  narrow 
pinnae,  and  by  the  usually  much  taller  fronds  being  scarcely 
narrowed  at  the  base.  From  the  latter  it  differs  in  the  frond 
being  heavier  and  more  coriaceous,  and  especially  in  the  nar- 
rower pinna:\  which  are  not  contracted  when  they  bear  fruit. 

A  much  closer  resemblance  exists  between  our  fern  and  the 
A.  fakinclluin  of  Madeira.  In  that  species  the  scales  of  the 
stalk  are  very  dark-brown,  the  pinn.t  with  a  more  evident  peti- 
ole, the  auricle  obtuse,  the  serraturcs  not  aculeate,  and  the  indu- 
sium  with  a  dark  spot  in  the  middle.  The  pinnae  also  have  a 
tendency  to  become  auricled  on  the  lowi:r  side  of  the  base,  as 
well  as  the  upper. 

Since  our  present  fern  extends  to  the  fiftieth  degree  of  north 
latitude,  and,  as  Ruprecht  thinks,  projjably  much  farther  north, 
it  is  not  improbable  that  it  might  do  well  in  open-air  cultiva- 
tion in  New  England. 

Plate  XX\'.  —  /bpidimn  uniiiiliDii.  'Die  Icft-liand  figure  represents  a 
normal  but  rather  small  specimen,  from  Oregon,  collected  by  Mr.  I'".  Hail. 
The  middle  frond  is  var.  niidalum,  from  the  Vosemite,  Professor  Wood. 
The  figure  to  the  right  is  var.  inthricans,  from  Mendocino  County,  Cali- 
fornia, Dr.  Kellogg.  The  small  portion  of  a  frond  at  tiie  top  of  the  plate 
is  from  a  magnificent  specimen  collected  in  1855  at  Port  Orfortl,  Oregon, 
by  Lieuijnant  (now  Colonel  and  Major-Oeneral  by  brevet)  August  V. 
Kautz. 

The  indusium  drawn  is  from  this  specimen. 


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FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


193 


Plate  XXVI.  — Fig.   i. 

POLYPODIUM    SCOULERI,  Hooker  &  Greville. 

Scouler's  Polypody. 

PoLYPouiuM  Scouleri  :  —  Root  -  stock  creeping,  scaly  ; 
stalks  rather  stout,  one  to  seven  inches  long ;  fronds  very 
thick  and  coriaceous,  cartilaginous  -  margined,  smooth,  fleshy 
when  recent,  two  to  twelve  inches  long,  broadly  ovate,  pin- 
natifid  to  the  midriu ,  segments  linear-oblong,  obtuse,  obscurely 
serrulate,  the  terminal  one  distinct,  and  often  the  longest ;  vein- 
lets  anastomosing,  and  forming  a  single  scries  of  largo  arcoles 
with  a  few  free  external  veinlets  ;  sori  very  large,  borne  near 
the  costule,  one  within  each  areole,  and  occurring  on  the  upper 
segments  only,  or  towards  the  ends  of  the  other  segments  also. 

Polypodium  Scouleri ^  Hookkr  &  Greville,  Ic.  Fil.,  t.  Ivi.  —  Hooker,  Sp. 

Fil.,  v.,  p.   19.  —  Hooker  &  Raker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  342;    Eaton, 

Feins  of  the  Soiith-Wcst,  ined. 
Polypodium  carnosum,  Kellogg,  in  Proceed.  Cal.  Acad.,  ii.,  p.  88,  fig.  24. 
Polypodium  pachyphyllum,  Eaton,  in  Amer.  Jour.  Sc.  and  Arts,  July,  1856, 

p.  138. 

Hai!.  —  On  trees  and  stumps,  less  frequently  on  the  ground;  from 
Guadalupe  Island,  Dr.  Palmer,  to  the  vicinity  of  Mount  Shasta  and 
Crescent  City,  California,  Professor  Brewer,  and  northward  to  British 
Columbia. 

Description.  —  The   root -stock  is  creeping,  and  more  or 


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194 


FERNS   OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


less  elongated  ;  rather  thicker  than  a  goose-quill ;  and,  though  at 
first  covered  with  chaffy  scales,  when  old  it  becomes  quite  bare, 
and  has  then  a  wrinkled  white-pruinose  surface.  The  scales  are 
about  four  lines  long,  and  taper  from  a  broad  base  to  a  very  fine 
point.  Their  general  color  is  a  deep  ferruginous  brown ;  but 
under  a  microscope  they  are  seen  to  be  composed  of  straight 
oblong  cellules  of  various  shades  of  color,  the  deep-brown,  am- 
ber-colored, and  transparent  ones  often  mixed  together  like  the 
stones  in  a  piece  of  mosaic.  The  edges  are  very  pale,  and 
minutely  ciliate-toothed.  The  stout  and  rigid  stalks  are  varia- 
ble in  length,  being  commonly  a  little  shorter  than  the  fronds 
they  support.  A  section  is  broadly  rounded  on  the  back  and 
sides,  and  has  a  deep  and  wide  channel  on  the  face.  It  con- 
tains four  round  fibro-vascular  bundles,  the  two  nearer  the  face 
much  larger  than  the  others.  The  fronds  measure  from  less 
than  tvv^o  to  ten  or  twelve  inches  in  length,  and  from  an  inch 
and  a  half  to  over  six  inches  in  breadth.  Their  general  outline 
is  ovate.  Their  substance  is  very  fleshy  when  they  are  fresh, 
but  in  the  dried  specimens  coriaceous  and  rigid.  The  midrib 
of  the  frond  and  the  midveins  of  the  segments  are  heavy  and 
very  prominent  beneath.  The  whole  frond  has  a  firm  thread- 
like border,  which  is  decurrent  at  the  base,  and  continuous  with 
the  incurved  margins  of  the  furrow  of  the  stalk.  On  the  small- 
est fronds  there  are  only  three  or  five  oval  or  slightly  oblong 
segments ;  but  in  the  largest  ones  there  are  as  many  as  twelve 
or  thirteen  large  linear-oblong  segments  on  each  side.  The  seg- 
■1^"^  are  from  eight  or  ten  lines  to  three  and  a  half  inches  in 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


195 


length,  and  from  six  to  eight  lines  in  breadth.  The  upper  ones 
are  separated  by  very  narrow  cuttings,  which  extend  almost  to 
the  midrib,  but  the  lower  ones  by  broader  and  rounded  sinuses, 
the  lower  side  of  the  segments  being  narrowed,  and  somewhat 
decurrent  on  the  midrib.  The  terminal  segment  is  either  dis- 
tinct, or  confluent  with  but  one  of  its  neighbors  :  it  is  commonly 
as  large  as  most  of  the  others.  All  the  segments  are  obscurely 
toothed,  and  are  obtuse  and  rounded  at  the  apex. 

The  veins  are  pinnate  from  the  midvein,  and  each  one  is 
forked  near  the  base :  the  upper  fork  is  undivided  ;  but  the  lower 
one  bears  a  branch  higher  up  on  the  lower  side,  and  is  again 
forked  into  two  terminal  veinlets.  The  last  veinlet  on  the  upper 
side  of  one  group  commonly  unites  with  the  lowest  inferior 
veinlet  of  the  next  higher  group,  forming  an  arcole,  which 
encloses  the  lowest  superior  veinlet  of  the  lower  of  these  two 
groups.  This  arrangement  of  the  veinlets  is  characteristic  of 
the  section  of  the  genus  to  which  the  name  Goiiiophlebium 
has  been  given.  In  some  other  species  of  this  section  several 
rows  of  such  areoles  are  regularly  formed.  The  arrangement, 
however,  is  not  constant ;  and  a  close  examination  of  a  frond  of 
the  present  species  (or  of  many  others  of  the  section)  will  reveal 
plenty  of  groups  of  veinlets  which  are  entirely  separate  or  free, 
and  of  course  forming  no  areoles.  Hence  it  is  that  Goiiiophle- 
bium, and  Phlebodium,  Canipyloneuron,  Phymatodes,  and  a  host 
of  other  proposed  genera,  founded  only  on  differences  in  vena- 
tion, and  at  first  received  by  many  good  botanists,  were  disap- 
proved of   by  the   maturer  judgment   of    Hooker,  and,  after  a 


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196 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


very  full  and  careful  examination  by  Mettenius,  were  finally 
rejected  by  him  and  by  the  majority  of  scientific  pteridologists. 

In  the  present  species  the  sori  are  found  on  the  upper  seg- 
ments, or  sometimes  towards  the  ends  of  most  of  the  segments. 
They  are  very  large,  far  larger  than  in  any  other  of  our  native 
species,  being  often  a  fifth  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  The  spo- 
rangia have  very  long  pedicels.  The  spores  are  almost  trans- 
parent, ovoid  with  one  obtuse  ridge,  —  which  is  marked  by  a 
longitudinal  band,  or  vitta,  —  and  have  a  minutely  roughened  or 
verrucose  surface. 

Scouler's  polypody  has  a  much  heavier  and  more  coriaceous 
frond  than  any  other  polypody  of  our  Pacific  States,  and  need 
never  be  confounded  with  any  of  them.  Dr.  Scouler's  speci- 
mens, collected  near  the  Columbia  River  about  forty  years  ago, 
are  very  much  smaller  than  those  received  from  more  recent 
collectors. 

Plate  XXVI.,  Fig.  i.  —  Polypodium  Scouleri.  From  an  Oregon  speci- 
men of  medium  size.  The  enlarged  fragment  shows  the  peculiar  arrange- 
ment of  the  velnlets. 


-i  I 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


197 


'.I  •' 


Plate  XXVI.  — Fig.  2. 

POLYPODIUM    INCANUM,  Swartz. 

Gray  Polypody. 

PoLYPODiUM  INCANUM  :  —  Root-stock  Creeping,  rather  slen- 
der, scaly ;  stalks  slender,  one  to  four  inches  long,  scaly ;  fronds 
one  to  six  inches  long,  six  to  eighteen  lines  broad,  evergreen, 
sub-coriaceous,  nearly  smooth  above,  beneath  thickly  dotted  with 
roundish  or  ovate  peltate  scales,  pinnatifid  to  the  midrib;  seg- 
ments oblong,  obtuse,  entire,  dilated  at  the  base,  and  separated 
by  rounded  sinuses  ;  veinlcts  free,  or  making  occasional  areoles  ; 
sori  near  the  margin. 

Polypodium  incanimi,  Swartz,  F1.  Ind.  Occ,  iii.,  p.  1645  '<  %"•  F"'  P-  35- 
—  SciiKUHR,  Krypt.  Gew.,  p.  188,  t.  11  b  {P.  vclatutn).  —  Will- 
DENovv,  Sp.  PL,  v.,  p.  174.  —  PuRsii,  Fl.  Am.  Sept.,  ii.,  p.  659. — 
Gray,  Manual.  —  Mettenius,  Polypodium,  p.  69.  —  Hooker,  Sp. 
Fil.,  iv.,  p.  208.  —  Eaton',  in  Chapman's  Flora,  p.  588.  —  Grise- 
BACii,  Fl;  Brit.  W.  I.,  p.  699.  —  Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil., 
p.  346.  —  FouRNiER,  Mex.  PI.,  Crypt.,  p.  83. — Williamson,  Ferns 
of  Kentucky,  p.  2,7 <  t.  v.  —  Meehan,  Native  Flowers  and  Ferns 
of  the  U.  S.,  p.    13,  t.  4. 

Marginaria  hicana,  Presl,  Tent.  Pterid.,  p.  188. 

Goniophlebium  incamim,  J.  Smith,  "  in  Hooker's  Jour.  Bot.,  iv.,  p.  56."  — 
Brackenridge,  Filices  of  U.  S.  Expl.  Exped.,  p.  32. 

Lepicystis  incana,  J.  Smith,  "in  Lond.  Jour.  Bot.,  i.,  p.  195  ;"  Ferns,  Brit, 
and  Foreign,  p.  80. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


Polypodium  ceferaccinum,  Miciiaux,  FI.  Bor.  Am.,  ii.,  p.  271. 

Polypodium  Eckloni,  Kunze,  in  Linnrea,  x.,  p.  498.  —  Mkttknius,  Polypo- 
dium, p.  68.  —  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  iv.,  p.  209. 

Polypodium  incanoides,  Fee,  8™  Mem.,  p.  88;    Foug.  Mex.,  p.  20,  n.  12. 

Acrostichum  polypodioidcs,  LiNN.icus,  Sp.  PI.,  p.  1525. 

Acrostichum  fronde  pinnata :  foliolis  lincaribtts  alkrnis  scssilibus,  termi- 
nalrice  plcrumque  trifida,  Gronovils,  F1.  Virg.,  p.   198. 

Hab.  —  On  trunks  of  trees  and  on  old  roofs,  more  rarely  on  rocks, 
from  Florida  to  Texas,  and  extending  northwards  to  the  Natural  Hridge, 
Virginia,  Meeiian,  Wirt  County,  West  Virginia,  H.  N.  Mertz,  and  to  a 
few  places  in  the  southern  parts  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois.  Com- 
mon in  the  West  Indies,  and  from  Mexico  to  Brazil  and  Chili.  Also 
in  Soudi  Africa  and  in  Tropical  East  Africa. 

Description. — The  gray  polypody,  hoary  polypody,  or  scaly 
polypody,  as  it  has  been  variously  called,  though  properly  a  tropi- 
cal fern,  yet  occurs  so  far  north,  that  it  must  occasionally  have  to 
withstand  a  severe  frost.  It  commonly  grows  in  large  mats,  the 
creeping  root-stocks  very  much  entangled.  These  root-stocks 
are  about  a  line  and  a  half  in  thickness,  and  are  at  first  cov- 
ered with  ovate-acuminate  scales,  which  are  pcltately  attached 
near  the  base,  and  have  a  dark-brown  rigid  median  band  sur- 
rounded by  a  hyaline  laciniately  ciliate  border.  Afterwards  the 
border  wears  away,  then  the  long  point  of  the  scale  breaks  off, 
and  at  last  the  root-stock  is  left  nearly  bare.  The  stalks  are 
slender,  and  arc  at  first  covered  with  scales  like  those  of  the 
root-stock ;  but  these  fall  off,  and  there  remain  ovate  and  rounded 
scales  intermixed,  all  with  a  dark  centre  and  a  nearly  transparent 


FKRNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


199 


border.  The  fronds  have  a  leathery  texture,  are  dark-green  in 
color,  nearly  or  quite  smooth  above,  and  beneath  copiously 
sprinkled  with  scales  like  those  of  the  stalk,  the  rounded  ones 
predominating.  In  many  tropical  American  plants,  however,  the 
fronds  bear  an  abundance  of  long-pointed  scales.  The  fronds 
are  capable  of  withstanding  drought,  and  are  often  found  curled 
up,  and  apparently  dead ;  but  when  they  arc  moistened  they  uncoil 
themselves,  and  are  as  fresh  and  green  as  ever.  They  are  com- 
monly in  the  United  States  about  three  inches  long,  and  nearly 
half  as  wide ;  but  fronds  both  much  smaller  and  considerably 
larger  are  often  seen,  especially  in  foreign  specimens.  The  seg- 
ments are  from  four  to  twenty  on  each  side,  oblong-linear  or 
sometimes  a  little  obovate  in  shape,  entire,  and  obtuse,  the  low- 
est ones  rarely  a  little  shorter  than  the  middle  ones.  They  are 
separated  by  rounded  bays  which  reach  quite  to  the  midrib. 

The  venation  varies  in  different  plants,  and  is  difficult  to 
be  seen,  as  the  fronds  are  very  opaque :  it  is,  however,  generally 
free,  each  vein  forked  near  the  base,  the  upper  veinlet  simple,  and 
the  lower  one  again  forked ;  but  occasionally,  especially  in  tropical 
plants,  the  veinlcts  arc  united  near  the  margin,  forming  areoles. 
The  fruit-dots  are  rather  small,  round  and  naked,  and  placed  at 
the  end  of  the  upper  forks  of  the  veins ;  and,  as  the  segments 
of  the  fronds  arc  often  made  concave  by  drought,  the  fruit-dots 
appear  to  be  marginal.  The  spores  arc  light-colored,  ovoid-bcan- 
shaped,  indistinctly  vittatc  along  one  side,  the  surface  sprinkled 
with  minute  pale-yellowish  granules. 

This  little  fern  is  by  no  means  particular  in  its  choice  of  a 


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200 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


home.  Though  perhaps  oftcncst  seen  on  trees,  it  is  recorded 
as  growing  also  on  rocks,  old  walls,  and  even  on  roofs,  as  at  St. 
Augustine,  Florida,  where  a  roof  was  heavily  thatched  with  it. 
In  Kentucky  it  grows,  as  Mr.  Williamson  tells  us,  on  trees  and 
on  rocks.  The  West-Virginia  station  is  a  very  recent  discovery, 
and  is  perhaps  the  most  northern  of  all,  being  in  north  latitude 
39°.  Mr.  Mcrtz  writes  :  "  It  is  on  a  high,  dry  cliff :  the  fern 
grows  on  the  edge  of  the  rock,  and  down  the  face  for  a  little 
distance,  fully  exposed  to  the  sun's  rays." 

The  scaly  Polypodia,  with  veinlcts  more  or  less  anasto- 
mosed and  forming  simple  areoles,  have  been  put  into  a  genus 
by  themselves  by  Mr.  John  Smith,  and  named  Lcpicystis.  There 
are  some  half-dozen  of  them,  mostly  occurring  in  the  warmer 
countries  of  America;  but  in  respect  to  neither  venation  nor 
the  scales  can  they  be  separated  from  the  other  unquestioned 
Polypodia. 


Plate  XXVI.,  Fig.  2.  —  Polypodium  incanum.     From  a  Florida  speci- 


men. 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


901 


Plate  XXVI.  — Fir,.  3. 

POLYPODIUM    FALCATUM,  Khllogg. 
Kellogg's  Polypody. 

PoLYPOUiuM  FALCATUM  :  —  Stalks  slender,  stramineous 
when  dried ;  fronds  broadly  lanceolate,  nine  to  fifteen  inches 
long,  four  to  six  broad,  thin-menibranaccous,  smooth,  pinnatifid 
to  the  midrib ;  segments  numerous,  tapering  from  a  dilated 
base  to  a  very  long  and  attenuated  point,  often  falcate,  sharply 
serrate,  the  lower  ones  slightly  reduced  and  separated  by  very 
broad  sinuses,  the  upper  ones  by  acute  incisions,  the  terminal 
one  acuminate ;  veins  with  about  four  free  veinlets  ;  sori  me- 
dium-sized, nearer  the  midvein  than  the  margin. 

Polypodium  fa/caliim,  Kellogg,  in  Proc.  Cal.  Acad.,  i.,  p.  20  (Dec.  1854). 
Polypodium   Glycyrrhiza,  Eaton,  in  Am.  Jour.  .Sci.  pnd  Arts,  July,  1856, 
p.  138. 

Hah.  —  On  trees,  sometimes  seen  in  clefts  of  rocks,  Shoalwater  Bay, 
Washington  Territory,  Mr.  J.  G.  Swan  ;  near  Port  Orford,  Oregon,  General 
Kautz. 

Description.  —  The  root-stock  I  have  not  seen.  Dr.  Kel- 
logg described  it  as  "compressed  tubercidate,  one-fourth  to  one- 
eighth  inch  broad,  greenish  russct-color,  branching  laterally,  often 
covered  with  scales."  General  (then  Lieutenant)  Kautz  noted 
that  "the  root  is  used  as  an   emollient   and   expectorant;    the 


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403 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


taste  resembles  liquorice : "  and  Dr.  Kellogg  has  a  very  similar 
remark.  The  stalk  is  probably  several  inches  long :  it  is  rather 
slender,  smooth,  and,  when  dried,  is  straw-colored.  The  fronds 
are  ample,  generally  over  a  foot  long,  and  are  broader  in  the 
middle  than  at  the  base.  They  are  much  thinner  in  texture 
than  those  of  P.  vulgare,  to  which  Mr.  Baker  has  referred  the 
plant.  In  a  large  frond  there  are  about  twenty-two  segments 
on  each  side,  mostly  alternate,  the  lower  ones  distant,  and  much 
dilated  on  each  side  of  the  base  :  the  upper  ones  are  placed  closer 
together,  and  are  less  dilated.  The  middle  segments  are  over 
three  inches  long;  and  all  of  them,  the  terminal  one  included, 
are  sharply  serrate,  and  narrowed  very  gradually  to  an  attenu- 
ated point.  The  veins  fork  near  the  midvein,  having  the  upper 
fork  simple,  and  the  lower  divided  into  three  veinlets,  which  are 
always  free.  The  fruit-dots  are  numerous  on  the  upper  half  of 
the  frond,  but  do  not  extend  to  the  narrow  tips  of  the  seg- 
ments. The  spores  are  reniform-ovoid,  and  minutely  verrucose 
on  the  surface. 

I  have  seen  but  very  few  fronds  of  th'j  fern,  and  it  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  gathered  by  recent  collectors ;  but  I  am 
still  disposed  to  consider  it  a  distinct  species. 

The  frond  drawn  is  a  small  one  collected  by  General  Kautz. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


203 


Plate  XXVII.  — Fig.  i. 

PELLyEA   ANDROMED^FOLIA,  FifE. 

Andromeda   Cliff- Brake. 

Pell^a    andromed^-folia:  — Root -stock   slender,   creep- 
ing, covered  with  narrow  ferruginous   scales  ;    stalks   scattered, 
erect,  wiry,  smooth,  pale-brown,  chaffy  only  at  the  base,  two  to 
twelve  inches  long ;  fronds  about  equalling  the  stalks,  somewhat 
rigid,  ovate,  twice  to  four  times  pinnate ;  primary  pinnae  rather 
distant,  spreading,  ovate-lanceolate ;  ultimate  pinnules  sub-coria- 
ceous, smooth,  slightly  glaucous,  petiolulate  or  sessile,  two  to  five 
lines  long,  broadly  oval,  slightly  cordate  and  emarginate,  fertile 
ones  often  with  the  edges  revolute  to  the  midvein ;  veins  six  to 
eight  pairs,  commonly  twice  forked,  the  veinlets  nearly  at  right 
angles  to  the  midvein,  and  sometimes  producing  narrow  ridges 
on  the  upper  surface ;  sori  at  the  ends  of  the  veinlets,  involucre 
formed  of  the  margin  of  the  frond,  herbaceous  with  a  narrow 
whitish  edge. 
Pellaa  andromedcc folia,  FicE,  Gen.  PH.,  p.   129.  — Hooker,   Sp.  Fil.,  ii., 

p.  149.  — Eaton,  in  Bot.  Mex.  Boundary,  p.  233.  — Hooker  & 

Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  150- 
Pteris  aiidromedccfolia,  Kaulfuss,   Enum.  Fil.,  p.   1 88.  — Hooker  &  Ar- 

NOTT,  Bot.  Beechey's  Voy.,  p.  406. 
Allosorus  andromcdafolius,  Kaulfuss,  "  Herb.  &  Catal. ; "  Kunze,  in  Lin- 

nica,   ix.,  p.  56,  x.,  p.   503  ;   Analecta  Pteridogr.,  p.   18,  t.  xi.  ; 

Torrey,  Pacif.  R.  Rep.,  iv.,  p.  159- 


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204 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


Platyloma  andromedcc folium,  J.  Smith  in  Hooker's  Lend.  Jour.  Dot.,  iv., 
p.  i6o.  —  Brackenridge,  Filices  of  U.  S.  Expl.  Exp.,  p.  94. 

Crypteris  divaricata  and  C.  puhesccns,  Nuitall,  in  Herb.  Hook. 

Peltaa  myrlilH/olia,  MtriTENius ;  Kuhn,  in  Linnsea,  xxvi.,  p.  85  (the 
Chilian  plant). 

Hab.  —  Exposed  rocks  in  ravines  and  canons,  sometimes  growing 
on  hillsides ;  California,  mostly  in  the  Coast  Ratiires,  possibly  extending 
to  Arizona  and  North-\v^" '.  ^n  Mexico.  I  know  of  no  specimens  col- 
lected north  of  Calii  '"<se  sent  by  Capt.  Wallace  from  "  Frazer's 
River"  being  probably  »^n.iiioriuan.  The  fern  re-appears  in  Chili  and 
in  South  Africa. 

Description. — The  root-stork  ih  a  few  inches  long,  fleshy 
when  living,  but  rigid  when  dried,  round,  and  covered  with  rusty- 
brown  somewhat  crisped  narrow  chaffy  scales.  The  stalks  are 
scattered  along  the  root-stock,  erect,  wiry,  terete,  light- reddish- 
brown,  with  a  delicate  bloom  when  fresh,  duller  when  dry,  chaffy 
only  at  the  very  base.  The  fibro- vascular  bundle  is  very  pe- 
culiar, and  deserves  special  microscopic  study.  It  is  central, 
roundish -triangular,  with  slightly  impressed  sides,  the  interior 
part  containing  a  three -armed  projection  from  the  middle  of 
one  of  the  sides. 

The  frond  is  broadly  triangular-ovate  in  outline,  from  a 
few  inches  to  over  a  foot  in  length,  and  usually  thrice  pinnate, 
but  sometimes  four  times  pinnate  at  the  base.  The  rachis  is 
usually  terete  like  the  stalk,  but  is  sometimes  slightly  flattened 
or  even  obscurely  channelled  on  the  upper  side.  Though  com- 
monly straight,  it  becomes  a  little  flexuous  when  the  pinnae  are 


FRRNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


205 


alternate.  The  lower  pinnae  are  distant,  ovate-lanceolate,  short- 
stalked,  and  commonly  bi-pinnate;  the  upper  ones  gradually 
shorter  and  simpler,  and  several  of  the  uppermost  reduced  to 
single  leaflets.  The  leaflets,  or  ultimate  pinnules,  are  dull- 
green  above,  paler  and  somewhat  glaucous  beneath,  sub-cori- 
aceous, oval  or  ovate,  and  usually  slightly  cordate  at  the  base, 
and  faintly  notched  at  the  rounded  apex.  Their  length  is  from 
two  to  five  or  even  eight  lines.  In  the  sterile  fronds  they  are 
perfectly  flat,  and  have  a  faint  narrow  whitish  border ;  but  in  the 
fertile  fronds,  which  are  much  commoner,  the  margin  is  rolled 
under  so  as  to  cover  the  sporangia,  and  the  whitish  border 
becomes  more  distinct,  and  like  an  involucre.  Very  often  the 
pinnules  have  their  edges  rolled  under  clear  to  the  midvcin, 
so  that  they  arc  pod-like,  and  the  fruit  is  completely  hidden. 
In  each  pinnule  there  is  a  central  vein,  and  several  widely 
divergent  veins  on  each  side.  These  veins  are  forked  near 
the  midvein,  and  their  branches  often  forked  again.  The 
veinlets  are  straight,  and,  when  the  pinnules  arc  rolled  up, 
often  appear  as  minute  striations  on  the  upper  surface. 
The  sporangia  are  seated  on  the  tips  of  the  veinlets,  and 
form  a  band  along  the  sides  of  the  pinnules  just  beneath  the 
revolute  margins.  The  spores  are  trihedric- globose,  and  ap- 
pear to  be  roughened  with  irregular  reticulating  ridges. 

While  the  frond,  with  its  rachis  and  branches,  is  usually 
smooth,  and  even  colored  with  a  faint  plum-like  bloom,  it  is 
sometimes  slightly  pubescent,  and  is  then  the  var.  pubcscens  of 
Baker  (Syn.  Fil.,  1.  c),  the  Crypteris  pubescens  of  Nuttall. 


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206 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


The  specific  name,  andromedafolia,  undoubtedly  has  refer- 
ence to  the  revolute  pinnules,  often  somewhat  glaucous  beneath. 
In  this  respect  they  resemble  the  foliage  of  Andyomeda  polifolia, 
though  not  in  shape,  as  the  leaves  of  the  Andromeda  are  usually 
linear-lanceolate.  Linnaeus  chose  the  name  Andromeda  for  the 
pretty  ericaceous  shrub  of  the  North  because  it  was  so  beauti- 
ful of  face  (corolla),  was  fastened  to  a  rock,  environed  by  water 
where  he  first  found  it  in  Lapland,  surrounded  by  dragons  (rep- 
tiles), and  held  up  its  most  innocent  arms  (branches)  piteously 
to  heaven,  and  so  remained  until  most  welcome  Perseus  (the 
summer  sunshine),  by  drying  up  the  floods  of  spring,  should 
release  the  fair  prisoner.*  The  Andromeda  fern,  too,  is  com- 
monly chained  to  a  rock ;  but  in  no  other  respect  can  we  trace 
an  analogy  to  the  daughter  of  Cass  ^  ope. 

In  cultivation  at  the  East,  Pellcea  andromedcBfolia  becomes 
larger,  more  compound,  and  has  longer-stalked  pinnae  and  pin- 
nules, than  in  its  native  home. 

Plate  XXVII.,  Fig.  i.  —  Pellcea  andromedcefolia.  From  a  specimen 
collected  near  Santa  Barbara  by  Mrs.  Cooper.  The  fragment  in  fruit  is 
from  a  specimen  from  Monte  Diablo. 

'  The  curious  reader  is  referred  to  Flora  Lapponica,  ed.  ii.,  p.  133,  and  to 
Lachcsis  Lapponica,  vol.  i.,  pp.  188,  189,  for  other  details  of  this  fanciful  com- 
parison. 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


907 


Plate  XXVII.  — Fig.  2. 

PELL^A   FLEXUOSA,  Link. 

Zigzag  CliiT- Brake. 

Pell/EA  FLEXUOSA  :  —  Root-stock  creeping,  rather  slender, 
the  scales  narrow,  rigid,  brown,  with  a  darker  midrib ;  stalk  red- 
dish-stramineous, several  inches  long,  rigid,  more  or  less  fur- 
rowed along  the  front,  passing  into  a  more  or  less  flexuose  or 
zigzag  rachis ;  fronds  from  six  inches  to  over  two  feet  long, 
ovate -oblong  in  outline,  twice,  or  the  larger  ones  thrice,  pin- 
nate ;  secondary  and  tertiary  rachises  usually  deflected  and 
zigzag,  rusty -puberulent,  or  nearly  smooth;  pinnae  commonly 
alternate ;  ultimate  pinnules  five  to  ten  lines  long,  roundish- 
ovate  or  sub- cordate,  very  obtuse,  distinctly  petiolulate,  sub- 
coriaceous,  smooth,  slightly  glaucous  beneath ;  margin  of  the 
fertile  pinnules  at  first  recurved  and  partly  covering  the  spo- 
rangia, at  length  flattened  out. 

PellcBa  flexuosa,  Link,  Fil.  Hort.   Berol.,  p.  60.  —  Hooker,  Sp.   Fil.,  ii., 

p.  149.  —  Fee,  Gen.  Fil.,  p.  129.  —  Fournier,  PI.  Mex.,  Crypt., 

p.   118. 
Pteris flexuosa,  Kaulfuss,  "MS.,"  and  in  Linn^ea,  v.,  p.  614  (excluding 

synonymy).  —  Hooker,  Ic.  PL,  t.   119. 
Allosorus flexuoms,  ICaulfuss,  "MS."  —  Kunze,  in   Linnaea,  xiii.,  p.   136. 

—  Die  Farrnk,  i.,  p.  46,  t.  23. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


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Platyloma  flexuosum,  J.  Smith. 

Pellaa  cordata,  ^Jlexuosa,  Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  153. 

Pellaa  intermedia,  Mettenius.  —  Kuhn,  in  Linnaea,  xxxvi.,  p.  84. 

Hab.  —  From  Austin,  Texas,  to  San  Diego  County,  California,  proba- 
bly in  exposed  rocky  places.     Mexico  to  Peru. 

Description.  —  This  is  commonly  a  larger  and  more  rigid 
fern  than  the  last,  having  also  a  pale  reddish-brown  stalk,  and 
ovate  or  cordate-ovate  obtuse  but  decidedly  larger  pinnules.  The 
rachis  and  all  its  parts  are  normally  very  flexuose,  or  bent  from 
side  to  side  in  a  zigzag  manner.  The  stalk  is  much  like 
that  of  P.  andromeda/oHa,  but  is  more  decidedly  flattened  on 
one  side;  and  the  fibro  -  vascular  bundle  is  the  shape  of  the 
expanded  wings  of  a  butterfly,  having  two  large  spots  on  the 
front  edge  of  the  fore-wings,  and  the  body  represented  by  a 
V-shaped  projection  from  the  upper  side. 

The  band  of  sporangia  is  very  broad,  and  the  recurved 
margin  of  the  fruiting  pinnules  very  narrow.  The  spores  are 
globose  and  minutely  warty,  or  almost  muricated. 

Mr.  Baker  considers  this  plant  a  variety  of  P.  cordata, 
which  has  a  straight  rachis  and  plainly  cordate  or  even  sagit- 
tate pinnules.  The  latter  species  is  found  from  Mexico  to 
Ecuador. 

Mr.  Emerton's  characteristic  drawing  is  taken  from  a  specimen  col- 
lected by  the  botanists  of  the  Mexican  Boundary  Survey. 


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FKRNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


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Pi. mi:   XXVI II. 

OSMUNDA    RHCxALlS.  Linn.kus. 

Royal  Fern. 

OsMUNDA  KF.GALis  :  —  Root-stock  creeping,  massive  with 
imbricated  stalk-bases;  stalks  erect,  several  inches  to  two  feet 
high,  roumled  on  the  back,  slightly  flattened  in  front,  never 
chaffy;  fronds  a  few  inches  to  several  feet  long,  ovate-oblong 
in  outline,  bi-pinnate ;  pinn.x  mostly  opposite,  the  lower  ones 
distant ;  pinnules  sub-coriaceous,  commonly  smooth,  distinct, 
short-pctioled  or  sub-sessile,  oval,  oblong  or  oblong-lanceolate  ; 
the  base  rounded,  or  oblitjucly  truncate,  or  sub-cordate,  (iften 
somewhat  auricled,  especiallv  on  the  lower  side,  the  edges  com- 
monly crenulate-serrulate,  the  apex  obtuse  or  sub-acute  ;  fertile 
fronds  with  several  of  the  uppermost  pinna;  contracted  and 
bi-pinnate,  the  slender  divisions  destitute  of  green  leaf-tissue, 
anil  co\'ered  with  bright-brown  bi-valvular  sporangia  having  a 
reticulated  surface. 

().i»i/i)/</,r  n\!^<i//.\\  LiNN.i:rs.  Sp.  I'l..  p.  1521.  —  .Swaut/,  .Syn.  1m1.,  p.  160. 
—  SciiKiiiR,  Krypt.  (u'w..  |).  147,  t.  145.  —  W'li  i.niNow,  .Sp.  I'l., 
v.,  p.  07.  —  MuiiAix.  I"l.  Hor.  .\in.,  ii.,  p.  27;,.  —  I'kisi.,  .Snppl., 
p.  62.  —  XiAwiAN,  llisi.  I)rit.  I'crns,  ]>.  ;oS.  —  Mnoui:,  Xat.  I'r. 
l?rit.  I'crns,  t.  50.  —  C"iKA\,  Manual,  cil.  ii..  iii.,  iv.,  p.  600;  cd. 
v.,  p.  670. —  ICaihn,  in  Chapman's  l'"l.,  p.  5(;S.  —  llcioKia;,  l>rit. 
l'"crns,   t.   45.  —  Mii.Di;,   in   Nov.  Act.   .Acad.   Nat.   Cur.,  xxvi.,  ii.. 


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FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


p.  647;  Fil.  Eiir.  et  Atl,  p.  175;  Monogr.  Gen.  Osmiincl-e, 
p.  58,  t.  i.,  ii.,  iii.,  f.  r-64.  —  MiQUEL,  Prolus.  Fl.  Japon.,  in  Ann. 
Mus.  Bot.  Liigd.-Batav.,  iii.,  p.  181.'  —  Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn. 
Fil.,  p.  427.  — FouRNiER,  PI.  Mex.,  Crypt.,  p.  140.— William- 
son, Ferns  of  Kentucky,  p.   133,  t.  Iii, 

Osmunda  Japoiiica,  Tiiunderg,  FI.  Jap.,  p.  330.  —  Swartz,  Syn.  Fil., 
p.  "161. — WiLLDENOW,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  99.  —  Eaton,  in  Perry's  Exp., 
ii.,  p.  330.  (Eastern  Asia ;  the  fertile  fronds  with  no  sterile 
pinna:.) 

Osmunda  spcctabilis,  Willdenow,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  98. — PuRsn,  Fl.  Am. 
Sept.,  ii.,  p.  658.  —  Link,  Fil.  Hort.  Berol.,  p.  19.  —  Hooker. 
Fl.  Bor.-Am.,  ii.,  p.  265.  —  Torrey,  Fl.  New  York,  ii.,  p.  504. 

—  Presl,  SuppL,  p.  63. — Gray,  Manual,  ed.  i.,  p.  634.  (East- 
ern North  America.) 

Osmunda   paliistris,    Schr.\der,    "  in    Getting,   gelehrt.  Anz.    (1824),    p. 

866."  —  Link,  Fil.  Hort.  Berol.,  p.  20.  —  Sturm,  Fl.  Bras.,  Fasc. 

xxiii.,  p.   165.     (Brazil.) 
Osmunda  obtusifolia,  Willdenow,  "  Herb." — K.\ulfuss,  Enum.  Fil.,  p.  43. 

—  Presl,  Suppl,  p.  65.     (Mauritius.) 

Osmicnda  glaucescens,  Link,  Fil.  Hort.  Berol.,  p.  20.  —  Presl,  Suppl., 
p.  65. —  Mettenius,  Fil.  Hort.  Lips.,  p.  116.  (North  Amer- 
ica ;   the  stalk  glaucous  near  the  basc^ 

Osmunda  gracilis,  Link,  "Hort.  Berol.,  2,  p.  145;"  Fil.  Hort.  Berol., 
p.  20.  —  KuNZE,  Die  Farrnkraiitcr,  i.,  p.  81,  t.  xxxi.x.  —  Presl, 
Suppl.,  p.  64.  —  Mettenius,  Fil.  Hort.  Lips.,  p.  116.     (Brazil.) 

Osmunda  Hiigcliana,  Presl,  Supi^l.,  p.  64.     (India.) 


'  The  forns  of  this  Prcliisio  li.ive  been  referred  to  once  or  twice  in  the  pres- 
ent work  (as  on  pp.  136  anil  147)  as  having  been  prepared  by  Mettenius.  The 
author  was  the  late  Dr.  V.  A.  W.  Miqiicl,  Professor  of  Botany  at  Utrecht. 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


311 


:,  I 


.    f.1 


Osmimdci  capCHsis,  Prksi,,  Siippl.,  p.  63.     (South  Africa.) 
Osmiinda  spcciosa.     "  Wallich,  Catal.,  n.  50." — Pki:si.,  Suppl.,  p.  64. 
Filix  fiorida,  sen   Osmtmda   rcgalis  foliis  allcrnis,   surculis   sc7niuifcris, 
Gronovius,  F1.  Virg.,  p.   123. 

Had.  —  In  marshes  and  wet  woods,  and  by  die  margins  of  ponds 
and  streams ;  very  common  from  Newfoundland  and  New  Brunswick, 
through  Canada  westward  to  the  Saskatchewan,  and  in  tlie  United 
States  from  Maine  to  Florida,  extending  to  Lake  Superior  and  Louisi- 
ana. Mexico  and  Cuba  to  Brazil.  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and  the  Mau- 
ritius. Apparently  absent  from  the  western  side  of  both  the  American 
continents,  unless  possibly  it  is  in  the  Sierra  Madre  of  North-western 
Mexico. 

Description. — The  root-stock  creeps  just  beneath  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground,  or  even  at  the  surface,  achancing  an  inch 
or  so  every  year,  and  slowly  decaying  at  the  older  extremity. 
The  existence  of  a  plant  probably  continues  many  years,  as 
the  old  and  decayed  remains  of  the  root-stock  may  sometimes 
be  traced  for  two  or  three  feet.  The  root-stock  itself  is  slender, 
scarcely  more  than  two  lines  in  thickness ;  but  it  is  so  covered 
with  imbricating  stalk-bases  and  by  interlacing  roots,  that  the 
whole  is  massive,  and  often  has  a  diameter  of  two  or  three 
inches. 

The  stalks  arc  continuous  with  the  root-stock,  and  indeed 
inseparably  united  with  it :  the  part  above  ground  is  roundish, 
but  flattened  on  the  upper  or  anterior  side,  and  smooth,  except 
for  a  little  pale-brown  deciduous  cobwebby  wool.  The  single 
fibro-vascular   bundle   is    in  section   horseshoe-shaped,  with  in- 


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FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMKRICA. 


curved  edges.  The  plant  is  devoid  of  chaff;  but  the  base  of 
the  stalks  is  dilated  on  both  sides,  so  as  to  form  a  pair  of 
broad  stipular  wings.  These  wings  are  peculiar  to  the  Osiiiun- 
dacece  among  ferns,  and  are  curiously  analogous  to  the  stipules 
of  some  Phasnogamous  plants.  In  the  terminal  bud  of  the 
root-stock  they  arc  found  of  all  degrees  of  development,  each 
one  invvrapping  those  less  developed  than  itself,  like  the  scales 
of  an  onion.  The  central  part  is  thickest,  and  made  stiff  by 
dark  hard  tissue ;  but  the  sides  grow  thinner,  and  at  the  edges 
are  a  most  delicate  membrane.  All  but  the  fibro-vascular  mid- 
rib, and  a  few  veins  which  diverge  from  it  obliquely,  are  white, 
fleshy,  and  gorged  with  starch-grains  oval  or  roundish  in  shape, 
and  of  very  different  sizes,  the  exceedingly  minute  and  the 
larger  ones  commingled.  Between  the  stipular  bud -coatings 
are  layers  of  fine  wool,  densely  packed  away,  and  apparently 
mixed  with  starchy  tissue  ;  but  of  this  I  am  not  quite  sure. 
The  apex  of  the  scale  bears  a  rudimentary  frond,  coiled  up 
circinatcly,  as  in  most  ferns.  When  the  frond  is  full-grown, 
the  edges  of  the  wings  become  scarious,  and  the  oblique  stria- 
tions  of  firm  tissue  more  evident.  After  a  while  the  edges  of 
the  wings  become  ragged,  and  arc  torn  away  ;  but  the  middle 
part  continues  white  and  fleshy  for  a  long  time.  The  root-stock 
sends  out  strong  blackish  rootlets,  some  of  which  creep  upward 
between  the  scales,  and  others  pierce  directly  through  them,  thus 
binding  the  whole  together,  giving  it  great  strength  and  solidity, 
and  taking  so  firm  a  hold  upon  the  soil,  that  a  strong  man  finds 
it  no  easy  task  to  tear  the  plant  from  the  ground.     The  wings 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


213 


are,  of  course,  decidedly  concave ;  but  their  general  shape  is  that 
of  a  barbed  arrow-head.  They  are  from  two  to  two  and  a  half 
inches  long,  and  three-fourths  of  an  inch  broad  at  the  widest 
part. 

The  fronds  of  the  royal  fern  are  said  to  attain  the  height 
of  ten  or  eleven  feet  in  the  British  Islands;  but  the  highest 
that  I  have  ever  seen  were  from  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut 
River,  and  measured  six  feet  from  the  ground.  Fronds  four 
or  five  feet  high  are  not  at  all  rare ;  but  more  commonly  the 
fronds,  including  the  stalk,  which  is  nearly  as  long  as  the  frond 
itself,  stand  from  two  to  four  feet  high.  In  dryish  marshes 
they  are  often  not  more  than  a  foot  or  fifteen  inches  high,  and 
stand  perfectly  erect ;  but  in  plants  of  full  size  the  fronds  curve 
outward  in  all  directions,  and  form  an  object  of  such  stately 
beauty,  that  the  plant  well  deserves  its  name  of  royal  fern. 

The  color  of  this  fern  is  usually  a  full  herbaceous  green, 
but  it  is  often  somewhat  glaucous,  especially  on  the  stalk  and 
rachis ;  and,  when  grown  in  sunny  marshes,  the  young  fronds 
are  often  tinged  with  various  shades  of  reddish -orange  and 
brownish-red.  The  sterile  fronds  are  broadly  ovatc-oblong  in 
outline,  and  exactly  bi- pinnate.  The  primary  pinnaj  usually 
number  from  seven  to  nine  pairs,  of  which  two  or  three  of 
the  uppermost  are  reduced  to  simple  leaflets ;  and  the  rest  bear 
from  six  to  twelve  pinnules  on  each  side,  beside  the  terminal 
ones.  The  lower  pinnre  of  a  large  frond  arc  often  a  foot  long, 
and  the  lowest  pair  separated  from  the  next  by  an  interval  of 
four  or  five  inches.      The  second   pair  of  pinn.ne  are  nearly  or 


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FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


quite  as  large  as  the  lowest  pair,  and  the  size  scarcely  dimin- 
ishes till  the  fourth  or  fifth  pair  is  reached.  The  pinnaj  have 
evident  stalks,  commonly  two  to  four  lines  long :  they  are  usu- 
ally exactly  opposite,  but  may  sometimes  be  found  separated 
as  much  as  half  an  inch.  The  secondary  pinnae,  pinnules,  or 
leaflets,  are  perfectly  smooth,  and  of  a  rather  firm  chartaceous 
texture :  they  vary  a  good  deal  in  shape  and  in  size,  and  many 
'  supposed  species  have  been  founded  principally  upon  differences 
of  this  kind ;  but,  to  any  person  who  will  devote  a  day  to  gath- 
ering fronds  of  this  fern  in  the  marshes  and  along  the  waters 
of  almost  any  township  in  New  England,  it  will  appear  a  use- 
less and  superfluous  task  to  try  to  distinguish  even  any  well- 
marked  varieties.  The  pinnules  vary  in  length  from  three-quar- 
ters of  an  inch  to  two  inches  and  a  quarter  (in  plants  of  the 
United  States),  and  in  breadth  from  three  lines  to  eight,  the 
shorter  ones  being  not  always  the  narrowest.  The  commonest 
shape  is  oval-oblong,  rounded  at  the  apex,  and  the  base  unequal, 
being  obliquely  truncate  or  broadly  rounded  on  the  upper  side, 
and  more  or  less  cordate  on  the  lower.  Other  fronds,  especially 
those  from  Florida  and  the  Carolinas,  will  have  oblong-lanceo- 
late pinnules,  with  the  apex  sub-acute,  and  the  base  very  un- 
equal. Sometimes  both  sides  of  the  base  are  cordate,  and 
specimens  with  a  distinct  rounded  auricle  on  the  lower  side  of 
the  base  are  by  no  means  lacking.  The  absence  of  this  auricle 
was  formerly  relied  on  to  distinguish  the  American  O.  spec- 
tabilis  from  the  European  O.  regalis ;  but,  while  the  auricle  is 
certainly  less  common  here  than  in  Europe,  it  may  readily  be 


FfCRNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


215 


found  in  almost  any  district,  and  it  is  certainly  impossible  by 
its  aid  to  separate  the  plants  of  the  two  continents.  The 
edges  of  the  pinnules  are  commonly  finely  crenulate  -  serrulate ; 
but  sometimes  the  serrulations  are  scarcely  perceptible.  Be- 
sides the  auricle  just  referred  to,  the  margin  of  the  pinnules 
occasionally  bears  two  or  three  short  rounded  lobes  in  its  lower 
half,  just  as  is  often  the  case  in  European  specimens. 

The  veins  are  free,  and  usually  fork  once  close  to  the  mid- 
vein,  and  the  upper  veinlet  again  before  reaching  the  margin  ; 
but  in  broader  pinnules  the  lower  veinlet  is  also  forked ;  and, 
if  the  pinnule  be  auricled  or  lobed,  the  forking  will  be  repeated 
a  third  and  even  a  fourth  time.  The  apices  of  the  veins  end 
most  frequently  in  the  sinuses  between  the  teeth,  but  some- 
times in  the  points  of  the  teeth,  as  in  Milde's  European  var. 
acuminata. 

The  fertile  fronds  are  of  the  same  height  as  the  others, 
and  usually  have  the  three  or  four  lower  pairs  of  pinuc'e  ex- 
actly like  those  of  the  sterile  fronds ;  but  the  upper  part  is 
transformed  into  a  bipinnate  or  tripinnatc  panicled  mass  of 
fructification.  In  the  normal  fructiferous  panicle  the  green- 
leaf  tissue  is  entirely  wanting,  the  ultimate  divisions  being  all 
thread-like,  containing  no  chlorophyll,  and  entirely  covered 
with  sporangia.  But  it  frequently  happens  that  some  of  the 
pinnae  are  but  partly  contracted,  and  produce  abundant  sporan- 
gia along  their  margins,  while  yet  preserving  a  truly  foliaceous 
character.  This  may  happen  either  at  the  base  of  the  panicle, 
or  in  its  upper  portion  :  when  the  latter  is  the  case  the  upper- 


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FERNS  OF   NORTH   ANfF.RICA. 


most  pinnre  are  usually  entirely  foliaceous  and  sterile,  and  the 
frond  is  an  example  of  the  var.  intcrrupta  of  Milde.  But  in 
Japan  and  India  a  plant  is  found,  the  O.  Japonica  of  Thun- 
berg,  and  O.  speciosa  of  Wallich,  in  which  the  fertile  frond  is 
fertile  throughout  its  whole  length.  But  this  complete  separa- 
tion of  sterile  and  fertile  fronds  does  not  seem  to  be  abso- 
lutely constant ;  and  while  the  plant  may  properly  be  called 
var.  yaponica,  as  by  Milde,  or  var.  biforiiiis,  as  by  Bentham 
(in  the  Flora  of  Hongkong),  the  distinction  is  not  now  consid- 
ered to  be  of  specific  importance.  The  same  form  occurs  also 
in  China  and  in  Natal.  The  sporangia,  as  of  all  the  Osiintn- 
dacecc,  are  much  larger  than  in  polypodiaceous  ferns,  and  the 
ring  is  reduced  to  a  mere  patch  of  cellules  slightly  different 
from  the  rest  of  the  cellules  of  which  the  sporangium  is  com- 
posed. The  sporangia  are  short-pedicelled,  and  obovate-spheri- 
cal  in  shape.  They  open  by  a  longitudinal  cleft  along  the  front, 
the  opening  extending  over  the  top  to  the  vestige  of  the  ring, 
thus  dividing  into  two  equal  hemispherical  valves.  The  spores 
are  tetrahedric  -  spherical,  with  three  vitta?  which  meet  at  the 
angular  side  of  the  spore.  The  surface  is  granulosc,  and  the 
color  a  very  pale  green. 

Milde  describes  no  less  than  fourteen  varieties  of  the  royal 
fern,  giving  to  North  America  his  var.  spedabUis,  which  he 
makes  identical  with  O.  g/auccsccns,  and  crediting  us  also  with 
an  occasional  plant  of  var.  palustris,  and  even  of  the  common- 
est European  form,  which  he  calls  "  Forma  obinsiitscuia."  But 
it  seems  more  reasonable  to  recognize  only  the  species  O.  re- 
gafis,  and  possibly  the  diplotaxic  var.  yaponica. 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


217 


The  genus  Osmmida  comprises  six  or  seven  species :  one 
of  them  is  found  in  Europe,  the  same  one  in  Africa,  three  in 
America,  and  all  in  Asia.  Two  other  .trcnera  are  associated  in 
the  same  sub-order:  viz.,  Todca,  represented  by  a  single  spe- 
cies which  occurs  in  South  Africa,  Australia,  and  New  Zealand ; 
and  Leptoptcris,  which  has  two  species  in  New  Zealand,  and 
one  in  Australia,  New  Caledonia,  the  Feejee  Islands,  etc.  In 
Osviunda  the  sporangia  are  borne  normally  on  contracted  branch- 
lets  destitute  of  green  leaf-tissue.  Toiim  has  the  sporangia  on 
the  back  of  the  green  sub -coriaceous  frond;  and  Leptoptcris 
has  the  sporangia  similarly  placed  on  the  back  of  the  frond, 
but  the  frond  is  delicately  pellucid  like  the  Hyi/iciiophyllacecc. 
All  the  genera  have  the  stalk  winged  at  the  base,  much  as  in 
O.  regalis. 

The  name  Osmmida  is  of  uncertain  origin.  Dr.  Gray  says 
that  Osmunder  was  a  Saxon  name  of  the  divinity  Tlior.  Sir 
W.  J.  Hooker  {British  Ferns,  at  t.  45)  refers  to  Sir  James  Ed- 
ward Smith's  conjecture  that  the  word  comes  from  the  Saxon 
Osmund,  meaning  "domestic  peace."  He  also  quotes  from 
Gerarde  that  "  in  olden  time  it  was  called  Osmund  the  IFatcr- 
man,  and  the  whitish  portion  of  the  root-stock  (which,  boiled, 
or  else  stamped,  and  taken  with  some  kind  of  liquor,  is  thought 
to  be  good  for  those  that  are  wounded,  dry-beaten,  and  bruised, 
or  that  have  fallen  from  some  high  place)  is  called  the  heart 
of  Osmund  the  IVaterman."  Another  old  name  was  St.  Chris- 
topher's Herb.  Hooker  says  further:  "Now,  as  wc  know  St. 
Christopher  was    the   patron   saint   of  watermen,  and  probably 


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FERNS   OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


of  water-plants,  so  St.  Osmund  might  be  equally  venerated 
under  like  circumstances,  could  we  know  more  of  his  history 
than  is  handed  down  to  us.  And  a  saint  of  that  name  did 
come  over  from  Normandy  in  1066  with  William  the  Con- 
queror, and  one  of  some  celebrity  too  ;  for  he  was  made 
Chancellor  of  the  kingdom,  and  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  where  he 
'reformed  the  liturgy  for  the  diocese,  which  afterwards  became 
general  throughout  the  kingdom,  under  the  name  of  the  Salis- 
bury Liturgy.'  Such  a  saint  deserves  to  have  his-  name  handed 
down  to  posterity  in  so  truly  noble  a  British  fern."  Still  another 
Osmund,  and  a  saintly  man  too,  appears  to  have  been  a  water- 
man, and  a  dweller  at  Loch  Tync.  A  story  of  his  adventures 
is  related  in  Williamson's  "  Ferns  of  Kentucky."  A  little  more 
about   the   name  is  given  by  Milde  (Alonogr.  Gen.  Osmunda, 

P-  55)- 

Plate  XXVIII.  —  Osmunda  rcgalis,  from  a  fine  plant  in  the  grounds 
of  John  Robinson,  Esq.,  at  Salem,  Massachusetts.  The  plant  is  drawn 
about  one-eighth  the  natural  size.  Fig.  2  shows  the  base  of  a  mature 
stalk  with  the  stipular  dilation,  though  the  wing  is  not  so  wide  as  when 
the  frond  is  first  developed.  Fig.  3.  —  A  pinnule  of  the  form  common- 
est in  the  northern  United  States.  Fig.  4.  —  An  elongated  pinnule, 
somewhat  auricled  on  the  lower  side  of  the  base,  from  a  plant  found 
at  Beverly,  Massachusetts.  Fig.  5. — A  portion  of  a  pinnule  enlarged, 
showing  the  common  type  of  the  venation.  Fig.  6.  —  A  cluster  of  spo- 
rangia, magnified,     l-'ig.  7.  —  A  spore. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


319 


Pi^TE  XXIX.  — Figs,  i,  2. 

OSMUNDA   CLAYTON  I  AN  A,  Linn.4ius. 

Clayton's  Fiowering-Fern. 

OsMUNDA  Claytoniana  :  —  Root -stock  creeping,  massive 
with  imbricated  stalk-bases  ;  stalks  erect,  several  inches  to  two 
feet  high,  rounded  on  the  back,  less  convex  in  front,  clothed 
with  loose  brownish  wool  when  young,  never  chaffy ;  fronds 
two  to  three  feet  long,  standing  in  a  crown,  oblong  -  lanceolate 
in  outline,  somewhat  nan  owed  towards  the  base,  and  rounded 
or  short -pointed  at  the  apex,  the  sterile  ones  curving  grace- 
fully outwards,  pinnate  with  numerous  oblong-lanceolate  rather 
obtuse  deeply  pinnatifid  pinn.x  ;  segments  ovate-oblong,  oblique, 
entire  or  obscurely  crenulate  towards  the  rounded  apex ;  veins 
free,  usually  once  forked  near  the  midvein  ;  fertile  fronds  taller 
than  the  sterile,  and  more  erect;  the  pinn.'c  mostly  similar,  but 
a  few  (two  to  four)  pairs  of  those  near  the  middle  of  tiie  frond 
contracted,  bipinnate,  the  slender  divisions  destitute  of  green 
tissue,  and  covered  with  dark -greenish  bivalvular  sporangia 
having  a  reticulated   surface. 

OsmuHcia  Claytoniana,  Linn.kus,  Sp.  I'l.,  p.  1321.  —  Swvivi/:,  Syn.  Fil., 
p.  160. — Wii.i,i)i:.N()\v,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  96.  —  PiKsii,  l'"l.  Am.  .Sept., 
ii.,  p.  657.  —  ToKRKV,  Fl.  N.  Y.,  ii.,  p.  503.  —  Pkksl,  .Siippl.,  p.  6S. 
—  ("iRAV.  Manual,  0(1.  i.,  p.  6;,4.  otc.  —  F.viox,  in  Chapman's  Fl., 


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220 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


p.  598.  —  HooKKU  &  Baki'.r,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  426.  —  Milde,  Monogr. 

Gen.  Osinundae,  p.  101,  t.  iii.,  f.  77-85,  t.  iv.  —  Williamson,  Ferns 

of  Kentucky,  p.  135,  t.  liii. 
Osmunda  inlcrrupla,  1  Iiciiaux,  Fl.  Ror.  Am.,  ii.,  p.  273. — Swaktz,  Syn. 

Fil.,  p.    160.  —  SciiKunR,   Krypt.  Gew.,  p.   146,  t.   144.  —  Wii.l- 

DENOW,  Sp.  I'l.,  v.,  p.  96.  —  PuRsii,  Fl.  Am.  Sept.,  ii.,  p.  657. — 

HooKEK,    Fl.    Bor.  Am.,  ii.,   p.   265.  —  Link,    Fil.  Hort.   I3erol., 

p.  21.'  —  Prksl,  Suppl.,  p.  67. 
Osmunda  linsilaris,  Sprengel,  Anleit.,  p.   160  ;    Engl,  version,  p.    175. 
Osmimda    inonticola   &  O.  pilosa,  Wallich,   "  Catal.,  No.  52."  —  I'resl, 

Suppl.,  pp.  68,  69. 
Strutluoptcris    Claytoniatia,    Berniiardi,    "  in   Schraders   Jour.   f.  d.    Bot. 

(1800),  ii.,  p.   126." 
Plcnasiiim    Claytoiiianum,    P.    inlcrrupinm    &    P.   pilosuvt,    Presl,    "  in 

Abhdl.  BiJhm.  Ges.  Wiss.,  v.   (1848),  pp.  325,  326." 

Hab.  —  Low  grounds  and  wet  thickets,  especially  in  alluvial  soil; 
common  from  Newfoundland  to  Lake  Superior,  and  extending  south- 
ward to  the  mount linous  regions  of  Arkansas,  Kentucky,  ami  North 
Carolina,  and  probably  .somewhat  farther.  Bourgeau  collected  it  near 
Sturgeon  Lake,  some  hundred  miles  north-west  of  Lake  Superior ;  and 
Milde  gives  Lake  Winnipeg  as  a  station  for  it.  It  is  found  also  in  the 
Himalayan  provinces  of  India ;  and  has  been  attributed  to  Brazil,  near 
Rio  Janeiro,  though  probably  by  an   error  of  Wallich's. 

Description.  — •  Clayton's  Osmunda  has  a  massive  root- 
stock  very  similar  to  that  of  the  royal  fern,  and  densely  covered 

'  O.  glaiiccsccns  of  Link  is  referred  to  O.  Claytoniana  by  Hooker  &  Baker; 
but  the  character  given  it  by  Link  points  plainly  to  a  common  American  form 
of  O.  iTffalis.     Rut  the  confusion  of  synonymy  originateii   w.'tli   Link  himself. 


FKRNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


221 


with  similar  imbricated  winged  stalk-bases.  In  cutting  across  a 
heavy  rhizome  of  the  plant  now  under  consideration,  the  section 
being  made  nearly  three  inches  back  of  the  growing  end,  the 
true  rhizome  was  found  very  nauch  below  the  centre  of  the 
whole  mass,  so  that  it  was  comparatively  close  to  the  exterior 
on  the  lower  side.  The  rhizome  itself  is  about  three  lines  in 
diameter,  and  roundish,  but  with  a  fluted  exterior.  The  outer 
layer  is  a  very  dense  stratum  of  hard  black  sclerenchyma, 
through  which  the  whitish  fibro-vascular  systems  of  stalk-bases 
pass  in  a  direction  but  slightly  oblique  to  the  central  axis  of 
the  rhizome.  Some  of  these  systems  may  be  seen  scarcely 
separated  from  the  roundish  central  mass  of  ducts  and  cellular 
tissue  of  the  rhizome ;  others  embedded  in  its  sclerenchyma ; 
and  others  again  just  separated  from  the  sclerenchyma  of  the 
rhizome,  and  coated  with  their  own  similar  hard  tissue.  These 
stalk -bases  also  show  the  beginning  of  the  whitish  stipular 
wings.  Outside  of  these  may  be  seen  older  and  older  stalk- 
bases,  some  of  them  cut  where  the  wings  are  well  developed, 
but  many  of  the  outer  layers  of  them  going  to  decay,  and 
their  wings  completely  gone,  or  reduced  to  a  few  disintegrated 
fibres. 

The  plant,  when  it  grows  in  a  favorable  situation,  forms 
a  crown  of  fronds  several  feet  in  diameter.  The  outer  fronds, 
which  are  generally  sterile,  rise  nearly  erect  on  their  stalks, 
but  gradually  bend  away  from  the  common  centre,  and  curve 
outwards  in  all  directions.  The  fertile  fronds  arc  usually  the 
tallest,  and  stand   close   together,  nearly  erect,  in   the  centre  of 


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333 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


the  crown.  The  fertile  pinnae  are  somewhere  near  the  middle 
of  the  fronds,  most  frequently  rather  above  the  middle.  Above 
these  fertile  pinnae  the  sterile  pinnx'  again  appear ;  and  this 
upper  part  of  the  fertile  frond  is  more  or  less  curved  outward, 
like  the  sterile  fronds.  But  this  distinction  in  the  bearing  of 
the  sterile  and  the  fertile  fronds  is  not  always  so  evident, 
especially  in  plants  of  moderate  growth.  When  the  fronds 
first  rise  from  the  ground,  they  are  covered  with  a  light-brown 
coating  of  entangled  webby  fibres.  These  are  shed  during  the 
early  summer,  and  the  fronds  with  their  stalks  become  nearly 
smooth,  a  little  of  the  wool  clinging  in  the  axils  of  the  pinnae 
and  along  the  midribs  or  the  veins. 

The  stalks  are  greenish  in  color,  and  have  the  back 
rounded,  and  the  front  slightly  convex  near  the  base,  but  con- 
siderably furrowed  in  its  upper  portion.  The  transverse  sec- 
tion shows  a  single  horscshoc-shaped  fibro-vascular  bundle,  its 
edges  considerably  rolled  inward.  The  length  of  the  stalks  is 
from  a  few  inches  to  nearly  or  cjuitc  two  feet.  The  sterile 
frond  in  large  plants  is  fully  three  feet  long,  perhaps  some- 
times longer.  A  frond  three  feet  long  is  a  foot  wide  in  the 
middle,  and  decreases  moderately  from  near  the  middle  to  the 
base ;  so  that  the  lowest  pinnae  are  scarcely  half  as  long  as 
the  middle  ones.  Six  or  eight  inches  from  the  end  the  frond 
begins  to  narrow,  and  narrows  so  rapidly  that  the  apex  is 
barely  acute,  and  very  often  somewhat  rounded.  In  the  frond 
here  described  the  lowest  pinnas  are  nearly  opposite,  but  the 
successive  ones  more  and   more  decidedly  alternate.      The  pin- 


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FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


223 


nae  number  twenty-three  on  each  side ;  the  lower  ones  sepa- 
rated by  intervals  of  two  and  a  half  inches,  and  the  rest 
gradually  more   approximated. 

The  pinnas  are  short  -  stalked,  and  in  shape  are  lanceolate 
from  a  broad  base ;  the  largest  ones  measured  being  seven 
inches  long,  and  one  and  a  quarter  inches  wide  at  the  base. 
They  are  pinnatifid  about  four-fifths  of  the  depth  to  the  mid- 
rib, the  segments  being  eighteen  or  twenty  on  each  side,  close- 
placed,  oblique,  oblong  -  ovate,  and  rounded  at  the  ends;  the 
apex  of  the  pinna  being  barely  acute,  but  never  acuminate.  In 
each  segment  there  are  about  eleven  to  thirteen  veins  on  each 
side,  the  lowest  one  being  on  the  inferior  side  of  the  midvein, 
and  not  unfrequently  leaving  the  midrib  of  the  pinna  at  a 
point  just  below  the  separation  of  the  midvein  from  the  mid- 
rib. These  veins  are  almost  always  forked  but  once,  the  fork- 
ing very  near  the  midvein,  and  the  two  veinlets  running  nearly 
straight  in  an  oblique  direction  to  the  margin  of  the  segment, 
which  is  commonly  entire,  or  at  most  obscurely  crenulate  towards 
the  apex.  In  fronds  of  less  ample  dimensions  the  pinnas  are 
of  course  fewer  and  smaller,  and  the  segments  also  smaller  in 
due  proportion. 

The  lower  and  the  upper  pinnae  of  the  fertile  fronds  are  pre- 
cisely like  those  of  the  sterile  fronds.  The  fertile  pinna:  vary 
in  number  from  one  to  four  pairs,  and  in  position  from  near 
the  bottom  to  near  the  top  of  the  frond.  In  one  frond,  of 
twenty -six  pinnae  on  each  side,  the  third,  fourth,  fifth,  and 
sixth   on    each    side    are   fertile,    leaving    twenty   sterile    pinnae 


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224 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMKRICA. 


above  them  on  each  side.  In  another  example  tliere  are  five 
sterile  pinnre  on  each  side  below  the  fertile  ones,  and  twelve 
above  them.  In  one  frond  the  third  pinna  on  one  side  is 
sterile ;  while  its  mate  is  sterile  at  the  base,  but  fertile  in  the 
upper  part.  Another  frond  has  one  and  a  half  pairs  of  pinnae 
fertile ;  and  still  another,  four  and  a  half  pairs  fertile.  The 
fertile  pinn.e  are  as  large  as  the  sterile  ones  in  a  half-grown 
frond,  and,  like  them,  rise  obliquely  from  the  rachis ;  but  in  a 
matured  frond  they  are  but  one-third  to  one-fourth  as  long  as 
the  sterile  ones,  and,  when  fully  ripe,  are  deflexed.  They  are 
closely  bipinnatc,  somewhat  woolly  with  brownish  contorted 
hairs,  and  densely  covered  with  bivalvular  reticulated  sporan- 
gia, much  like  those  of  O.  rcgalis,  but  of  a  different  and  very 
characteristic  color,  being  blackish -green,  and  at  length  dark 
brown.'  The  spores  are  trihedric-spheroid,  with  three  radiating 
vittce  and  a  granulose  surface. 

'  "  Wo  notice  at  once  in  the  sporangia  the  dark,  almost  black  color,  which 
is  in  the  highest  tlegrec  characteristic  of  this  species.  The  ring  is  3-4  cells  high, 
and  lo-i  I  cells  broad.  From  the  top  ol  the  sporangium  there  e.\tend  to  the  line 
of  fissure  si.v  small  rows  of  cells,  suddenly  contracting  into  from  two  to  four, 
which  form  the  borders  of  the  fissure.  These  bordering  cells  are  always  bright- 
colored,  not  longer  tlian  the  adjoining  cells,  hut  full  three  times  as  slender.  To 
the  riglit  and  left  of  the  ring,  and  particularly  from  the  upper  portion  of  it,  there 
extend  around  to  the  front  of  the  sporangium  the  blackish-brown  cells  from  which 
it  derives  its  dark  appearance;  whilst  the  cells  lying  directly  beneath  the  ring, 
and  extending  to  the  pedicel,  arc  bright-brown  or  yellowish-brown.  The  whole 
cell  is  pervaded  by  this  dark  color,  and  not  merely  the  cell  walls,  which  arc  not 
specially  thicker  than  in  the  other  species  of  Osmunda."  —  Milde:  Mouogr.  Osm., 
p.   107. 


tu 


FKRNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


225 


This  fern  was  originally  described  by  Linnaeus  in  these 
words  :  "  Osiminda  frondibus  pinnatis :  pinnis  piniiatifidis 
apice  coarctato-fnicticantibiisy  Swartz  uses  nearly  the  same 
character,  merely  adding  after  "pinnatis"  the  words  "feyntgi- 
neo-tomentosis^  and  putting  a  comma  before  "apice."  Will- 
denow  varies  the  expression  a  little,  but  admits  that  he  had 
seen  only  imperfect  specimens ;  meanwhile  describing  the  same 
species  well  enough  under  a  new  name  {O.  inlcrrupta),  which 
was  adopted  by  nearly  all  American  botanists,  until  Dr.  Gray, 
examining  Clayton's  specimens  in  1839,  ascertained  that  the 
O.  Claytoniana  of  Linnaeus  and  the  O.  intcyrupta  of  Willde- 
now  were  one  and  the  same  species,  but  that  Clayton's  speci- 
mens were  immature,  and  might  readily  be  supposed  to  have 
terminal  fructification.  This  observation  I  have  since  been 
able  to  repeat,  and  am  perfectly  satisfied  of  its  correctness.  Rut 
Wallich  has  named  a  plant  from  Kumat)n  Osninnda  vcstita, 
which  Milde  says  is  a  form  of  the  present  species  with  truly 
terminal  fructification.  The  only  Himalayan  specimens  of 
O.  Claytoniana  which  I  have  seen  have,  however,  the  sub- 
medial  fructification  of  the  ordinary  form. 

Concerning  the  southern  limits  of  this  fern  in  our  coun- 
try there  is  still  some  doubt.  Mr.  Curtiss  sent  it  from  Vir- 
ginia; Mr.  Williamson,  in  his  "Ferns  of  Kentucky,"  says  it 
"  is  found  in  all  our  damp,  rich  woods,  but  is  not  so  common 
about  Louisville  as  the  O.  regalis ;"  Milde  refers  to  speci- 
mens collected  by  Rugcl  near  Asheville,  North  Carolina;  and 
from    North-western   Arkansas    Professor   F.  L.  Harvey  sends 


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226 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


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a  sterile  frond,  probably  of  this  species,  but  with  the  pinnae 
almost  acute  enough  for  the  next.  I  have  no  note  of  its 
occurrence  in  Tennessee  or  any  of  the  Gulf  States. 

Plate  XXIX.,  Figs,  i,  2.  —  An  entire  plant,  from  Mr.  Robinson's 
garden,  in  Salem,  Massacliusetts,  reduced  to  about  one-eighth  of  the 
natural  size,  showing  the  massive  root-stock,  and  the  fertile  fronds  rising 
nearly  erect  above  the  recurving  sterile  ones.  Fig.  2  represents  a  sterile 
and  a  fertile  pinna  of  the  natural  size. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


227 


Plate  XXIX.  — Figs.  3-5. 

OSMUNDA    CINNAMOMEA,  Linn^us. 

Cinnamon-  Fern. 

Osmunda  CINNAMOMEA  :  —  Root-stoclc  Creeping,  massive 
with  imbricated  stalk-bases ;  stalks  a  few  inches  to  two  feet 
high,  rounded  at  the  back,  nearly  flat  in  front,  clothed  at  first 
with  abundant  light-brown  wool,  never  chaffy;  fronds  from  a 
foot  to  three  or  four  feet  long,  standing  in  a  crown  ;  the  sterile 
ones  oblong-lanceolate  in  outline,  slightly  narrowed  towards  the 
base,  pointed  at  the  apex  or  even  acuminate,  pinnate  with  nu- 
merous oblong -lanceolate  acute  deeply  pinnatifid  pinnae;  seg- 
ments ovate  -  oblong,  oblique,  usually  entire,  rounded  at  the 
apex,  or  moderately  acute ;  veins  free,  usually  once  forked  near 
the  midvein ;  fertile  fronds  often  as  tall  as  the  sterile,  pro- 
duced before  them,  but  withering  much  sooner ;  all  the  pinn^ 
contracted,  bipinnate,  destitute  of  green  tissue ;  the  slender 
divisions  covered  with  cinnamon -brown  bivalvular  reticulated 
sporangia. 

Osmunda  cinnamomca,  Linn/Eus,  Sp.  PI.,  p.  1522. —  Swartz,  Syn.  Fil., 
p.  160.  —  ScHKUHR,  Krypt.  Gew.,  p.  148,  t.  146.  —  Willde- 
Now,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  98.  — MiCHAUx,  Fl.  Bor.  Am.,  ii.,  p.  273.— 
PuRSH,  Fl.  Am.  Sept.,  ii.,  p.  657. —  Hooker,  Fl.  Bor.  Am.,  ii., 
p.  265.  — ToRREv,    Fl.    N.  Y.,    ii.,    p.   503.  —  Link,    Fil.    Hort. 


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338 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


Berol.,  p.  21.  —  PuESL,   Suppl.,   p.    6S.  —  Gray,    Manual,  cd.  i., 

p.  635,  etc.  —  Mkitenius,  Fil.  Hort.  Lips.,  p.   ii6;    "Prod.  Fl. 

Nov.-Gran.,  p.  79."  —  Maximowicz,    Prim.  Fl.  Amur.,  p.  336.  — 

Hooker   &    Baker,    Syn.    Fil.,   p.   426.  —  Miquei.,    Prolus.   Fl. 

Japon.  in  Ann.    Mus.    Bot.  Lugd.-Batav.,  iii.,  p.  182.  —  Mii.de, 

Monogr.   Gen.   Osmunda;,    p.   93,    t.   v.  —  Fournieu,   PI.   Mex. 

Crypt,  p.   140. 
Siruthioptcris  cinnamomca,    Bernhardi,   "  in    Schraders   Jour.  f.   d.   Bot. 

(1800),  ii.,  p.   126." 
Osmundastrum    cinnamomeum,    Presl,  "  in   Abh.   Bohm.  Ges.   Wiss,,   v. 

(1848),  p.  326." 
Osmiinda  alata.  Hooker,  "in  Edinb.  Phil.  Jour.  (1822),  vi.,  p.  333." 
Osmunda    Claytoniana,   Conrad,   "in    Jour.  Ac.  Sc.  Philad.  (1S29),  vi., 

part  i.,  p.  29,  t.  ii. ;  "  not  of  Linnaus. 
Osmunda  imlricata,  Kunze,  Die  Farrnkraiiter,  ii.,  p.  29,  t.  cxii. 

Had.  —  Low  grounds  and  moist  copses ;  very  abundant  from  New- 
foundland to  Wisconsin,  and  southward  to  Florida  and  Louisiana.  It 
occurs  also  in  Bermuda,  Cuba,  and  San  Domingo,  from  Mexico  to  New 
Grenada,  Venezuela,  and  Brazil,  and  has  been  collected  in  Mantchooria 
and  Japan. 

Description.  —  The  cinnamon-fern  is  in  many  respects  so 
like  the  two  species  of  Osmunda  already  described,  that  a  full 
description  of  its  root-stock,  and  the  stalk -bases  with  their 
wings,  is  unnecessary.  Indeed,  the  whole  plant  is  so  very  simi- 
lar to  Clayton's  flowering-fern,  that  in  the  absence  of  fructifica- 
tion it  is  not  always  easy  to  distinguish  one  from  the  other. 
When  well  grown  the  crown  of  fronds  fully  rivals  that  of  the 
other  species,  and  the  sterile   fronds   have  almost   exactly  the 


ki. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


329 


same  shape  and  dimensions ;  the  most  evident  difference  being, 
that  in  O.  cinnamomea  the  apex  of  the  frond  is  decidedly 
acute,  or  even  acuminate,  and  so  also  is  each  particular  pinna. 
A  frond  from  the  swamps  of  Hudson  County,  New  Jersey,  has 
a  stalk  twenty  inches  long,  a  few  shreds  of  loose  wool  still 
adhering  to  it.  The  frond  itself  is  thirty-seven  inches  long, 
and  has  thirty  pinnae  on  each  side,  besides  a  few  small  lobes 
which  form  the  apex.  The  lowest  pinnas  are  three  inches 
long,  and  five-eighths  of  an  inch  wide  at  the  base.  The  long- 
est pinnae,  which  are  rather  above  the  middle  of  the  frond,  are 
seven  and  a  half  inches  long,  and  an  inch  and  a  quarter  wide 
at  the  base.  The  number  of  segments  in  these  longest  pinnae 
is  about  twenty-four  on  each  side.  In  these  very  large  fronds 
the  stipular  wings  are  more  elongated  than  in  smaller  plants  : 
I  find  one  frond  with  the  wings  three  and  a  half  inches  long, 
and,  the  specimen  being  dried,  beautifully  marked  with  oblique 
slightly  curved  lines  of  blackish  sclercnchyma.  The  margin  of 
the  segments  is  usually  entire,  or  obscurely  crcnulate  ;  but  in 
plants  of  large  size  the  lower  segments  of  the  pinnae  are  not 
unfrequently  much  elongated,  and  again  pinnatifid.  Sometimes 
it  is  only  the  inferior  basal  segment  which  is  thus  enlarged  ; 
sometimes  several  of  the  segments  will  exhibit  this  character. 
Fronds  exhibiting  this  character  have  been  gathered  in  North- 
ern New  York  by  Mrs.  Barnes,  in  Connecticut,  and  in  New 
Jersey,  A  plant  producing  them  is  cultivated  in  the  Botanic 
Garden  at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts  ;  and  this  form  is  doubt- 
less very  common  throughout  the  United  States. 


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FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMKRICA. 


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The  fertile  fronds  rise  from  the  root-stock  in  early  spring, 
at  first  densely  woolly  with  light-brown  tomcntum,  and  show- 
ing a  pretty  group  of  little  croziers  for  each  plant ;  but,  when 
the  frond  is  fairly  uncoiled,  the  abundant  sporangia  give  it 
the  characteristic  cinnamon-brown  coloring.  The  sterile  fronds 
soon  follow  the  fertile  ones,  and,  when  regularly  disposed,  form 
a  magnificent  green  vase,  within  which  stand  erect  the  rich 
plumes  of  fructification.  Normally  the  fronds  are  either  wholly 
sterile,  green,  and  firmly  chartaceous,  or  wholly  fertile,  soft,  and 
devoid  of  green  tissue ;  but  fronds  are  not  rare  in  which  some 
of  the  lower  pinna-'  are  foliaceous,  while  the  greater  part  of 
them  arc  fully  fertile.  Other  fronds  are  mainly  sterile,  but 
with  the  apex  wholly  or  partly  transformed  into  fructification. 
Such  fronds,  which  are  plainly  mere  accidents,  constitute  the 
van  frondosa  of  Gray's  Manual  and  of  Milde's  Monograph. 
This  condition,  rather  than  variation,  occurs  also  in  specimens 
from  Chiapas,  Mexico,  collected  by  Dr.  Ghiesbreght.  Mr. 
W.  H.  Leggett  found  still  another  anomaly  in  Peekskill,  New 
York,  in  which  the  lower  part  of  the  frond  is  fertile,  while  the 
apex  is  sterile,  and  the  middle  part  shows  a  gradual  transition 
from  one  condition  to  the  other.  The  fertile  fronds  are  usu- 
ally as  tall  as  the  sterile,  though  sometimes  only  half  their 
height,  and  rarely  overtopping  them.  The  pinnae  are  about 
two  inches  long,  and,  until  they  wither,  stand  nearly  erect. 
They  are  densely  bipinnate,  and  heavily  covered  with  sporan- 
gia, which  are  thus  described  by  Dr.  Milde:  "The  cinnamon- 
brown    color    pervades    the   whole    sporangium :    this    coloring 


"'i   J 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


231 


comes  not  only  from  the  partition-walls,  but  from  the  entire 
cell-wall ;  and  only  the  ring,  as  in  all  the  Osmundas,  is  colored 
yellow  in  the  strata  of  its  cell -walls.  The  ring  is  four  cells 
high,  and  ten  to  twelve  cells  broad.  The  line  of  fissure  is 
bordered  on  each  side  by  two  or  three  slender  rows  of  cells, 
which  are  not  unfrcquently  much  longer  than  the  neigh- 
boring large  cells,  though  always  three  times  as  narrow."  The 
spores  are  yellowish -green,  globular,  and  minutely  verrucose- 
punctate.  If  the  three  vittae  which  belong  to  the  genus  arc 
present,  I  have  failed  to  discover  them. 

Besides  the  imperfectly  fruited  fertile  fronds,  of  which  the 
vdir./rondosa  has  been  constituted,  there  are  mentioned  by  fern- 
writers  two  other  varieties. 

Var.  alafn  (Hooker,  F1.  Bor.  Am.,  ii.,  p.  265 ;  Milde, 
Monogr.,  p.  94)  has  the  rachis  slightly  wing  -  margined,  —  a 
not  uncommon  character  of  large  fronds. 

Var.  imbricata  (Mii-de),  which  is  Kunze's  Osntunda  im- 
bricata,  is  said  to  have  the  fronds  rigid  and  coriaceous,  the 
pinnae  sub-erect,  and  the  segments  imbricated.  It  is  a  Brazil- 
ian form,  of  which  I  have  seen  no  specimens ;  but  Milde  thinks 
it  passes  gradually  into  the  usual  form ;  and  fronds  with  the 
segments  more  or  less  imbricated  are  not  rare  in  the  United 
States. 

All  our  native  species  of  Osmunda  may  be  easily  culti- 
vated in  common  garden-soil,  and,  in  fact,  are  very  frequently 
seen  in  the  gardens  and  door-yards  of  our  New-England 
towns.     But   if  one  will   take   the   pains   to   prepare   for  these 


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232 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


magnificent  ferns  a  mixture  of  swamp-muck  and  river-alluvion, 
or  fine  loam,  and  will  keep  them  supijlied  wit.i  abundant 
moisture,  he  will  be  rewarded  by  much  finer  plants  than  he 
would  otherwise  have.  Such  a  bit  of  artificial  bog  will  do 
nicely  for  the  species  of  fFoodwarcfia  also,  and  on  the  sunny 
edges  of  it  pitcher-plants  and  sundews  .md  other  interesting 
bog-plants  will  be  almost  sure  to  thrive. 

Plate  XXIX.,  Figs.  3-5. —  Osnmnda  cinnantomca.  Fig.  3  is  an 
entire  plant  from  the  country  near  Salem,  Massachusetts,  reduced  to 
almost  one-eighth  of  the  natural  size.  Fig.  4  is  a  sterile  pinna,  and 
Fig.  5  a  fertile  pinna,  both  of  the  natural  size. 


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FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA, 


233 


Plate   XXX. 

ASPIDIUM    THELVPTERIS,  Swartz. 

Marsh   Shield-Fern. 

AsPiDiUM  Thulypteris  :  — Root- Stock  slender,  elongated, 
creeping,  blackish,  and  nearly  naked  ;  stalks  scattered,  fully  as 
long  as  the  fronds  or  longer,  blackish  at  the  base,  at  first 
sparingly  chaffy,  soon  smooth  ;  fronds  one  to  three  feet  long, 
membranaceous,  oblong-lanceolate,  scarcely  narrowed  at  tpc  base, 
short-pointed,  pinnate  ;  pinnae  numerous,  short-stalked,  spread- 
ing or  slightly  decurved,  tapering  from  a  broad  base  to  a 
rather  acute  or  sometimes  acuminate  apex,  slightly  pubescent 
on  the  midribs  and  veins,  deeply  pinnatifid  ;  segments  oblong- 
ovate,  usually  entire,  obtuse  ;  veins  free,  :he  lower  ones  or  all 
of  them  forked  near  the  midvein  ;  fertile  fronds  on  loncrer 
stalks,  and  with  narrower  segments  than  the  sterile  ones ;  sori 
as  near  or  nearer  the  midvein  than  the  margin,  which  is  often 
revolutc  ;  indusia  minute,  reniform,  often  minutely  glandular  at 
the  edge. 

Aspidinm  T/u/ypkris,  Swartz,  ■' in  Schradcrs  Jour.  (1800),  ii.,  p.  40:" 
Syn.  Fil.,  p.  50.  —  S(  hki  i(u,  Krypt.  ("rcw.,  j).  51,  t.  52.  —  Wux- 
DENow,  S[).  ri.,  v.,  p.  249.  —  Puusii,  M.  Am.  Sept.,  ii,,  p.  661. 
—  ToKRKV,  V\.  X.\",.  ii.,  p,  4q6,  —  CiRAV,  Manual,  ed.  ii.,  p.  597, 
etc.  —  MEniCNiu.s,  Fil.  Hort.  Lips.,  p.  92;  As|ii(lium,  p.  112. — 
MiLUE,  Fil.  F,ur.  &  At!.,  p.   ii*. 


i 


234 


FERNS   Ol-"   NORTH   AMERICA. 


P  I 


Acrostic/mm   Thclyptcris,  LinN/Eus,  Sp.  P!.,  p.   1528. 

Polypodium  Thclyptcris,  LinN/Eus,  "  Mantissa,  p.  505." 

Polysticlmm   Tliclypkris,  Rum,  "  Fl.  Germ.,  iii.,  p.  77."  —  Kocii,  Syn.  Fl. 

Germ.,  cd.  iii.,  p.  733. 
Ncplirodiimi   T/ic/yptcris,  Desv.aux,  "in  Mem.  Soc.  Linn.,  vi.,  p.  257."  — 

Hooker,    Brit.    Ferns,  t.   13;   Sp.  Fil.,  iv.,  p.  88. —  Hooker   & 

Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  271. 
Lastrea  Tliclypkris,  Presi,,  Tent.  Pteritl.,  p.  76.  —  Moore,   Nat.  Pr.  Brit. 

Ferns,  t.  xxi.x. 
Dryopteris  Tliclypteris,  Gr.w,  Manual,  ed.  i.,  p.  630. 
Tlulyptcris  paliislris,  SciioiT,  Gen.   I'il.    (with  a  plate). 

Var.    SQU.vMiGERUM.  —  Midribs  bearing   a  few  ovate    scales    beneath; 
indusium   beset  with    stalked    glands  and  slender  hairs  ;    otherwise  as  in 
the  ty]3e. 
Aspidium   Thclyplcris,  ^i  squaniigcrum,  SciiLECirrEXDAi,,  Adumbr.  PI.,  p.  23, 

t.  xi.  —  KuNZE,  PI.  Acotyl.  Afr.  Aust.  Recens.  Nov.,  p.  67. 
Aspidium  Sijuamigcnim,  Fee,  S"""  Mem.,  p.   104. 
Ncphrodiiiin   Tliclypteris,  ^-',.  squamulosiim,  J.  D.  Hooker,  Handb.  of  N.  Z. 

Flora,  p.   777. 
Lustrca  Fairbankii,  Beddome  (!),  "Fil.   Brit.   Ind.,  t.   254." 


I  Iai!.  —  Very  common  in  marshes  and  wet  places,  but  sometimes  in 
dry  grnuiid,  iVom  Lake  Winnipeg,  British  .America,  and  New  Brunswick, 
to  Louisiana  and  llorida.  Europe,  .Siberia,  Mantchooria,  and  Himalayan 
India.  1  he  variety  occurs  in  .South  Africa,  New  Zealand,  and  Southern 
India. 


Descrh'Tion.  —  Tlu'  rodt-stock  is  very  slender,  nearly  black, 
almost  devoid  of  tharf,  and  creeps  for  many  inches  just  beneath 
the  surface  of  the  ground.     Tlie  stalks  are  scattered  along  the 


"!>» 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


235 


root -Stock,  the  newest  portion  of  which  bears  a  few  short 
stems  an  inch  long  or  less,  which  would  naturally  be  de- 
veloped   into    fronds    the    coming    year. 

The  stalks  are  commonly  a  little  longer  than  the  frond, 
slender,  and  naked,  except  for  a  few  scales  which  soon  dis- 
appear. The  stalk  is  roundish  on  the  back,  furrowed  in  front, 
and  contains  near  the  base  two  oval ,  fibro-vascular  bundles,  as 
Milde  has  observed;  but  higher  up  the  two  are  united  into 
one,  which  is  concave  anteriorly,  and  contains  three  internal 
vascular  projections  from  the  concave  side,  two  of  them  di- 
rected obliquely  towards  the  edges  of  the  bundle,  and  one 
pointed   towards    the    middle   of    the   opposite   curvature. 

The  frond  sometimes  varies  in  length  from  a  very  few 
inches  to  nearly  three  feet;  but  commonly  it  is  about  a  foot 
long,  and  four  or  five  inches  wide.  Such  a  frond  has  about 
twenty  to  thirty  pinuc-e  on  each  side,  sometimes  regularly  ar- 
ranged in  pairs  to  the  very  apex,  but  more  frequently  more 
or  less  alternate.  The  lower  two  or  three  pairs  are  usually 
but  little  shorter  than  those  above  them  ;  but  fronds  are  occa- 
sionally found  in  which  they  are  conspicuously  reduced.  One 
such  is  figured  by  Moore,  at  Plate  XXIX.  of  the  Nature-printed 
British  Ferns  ;^  and  I  have  similar  fronds  from  various  places 
in  America.  The  texture  of  the  fronds  is  slightly  heavier  than 
in  the  New  York  shield -fern,  but  still  membranaceous.  The 
fronds  wither  at  the   first   frost,  and   decay  during  the  winter 

'  The  left-hand  figure.  The  folio  edition  is  always  referred  to  in  the  pres- 
ent work. 


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236 


FKRNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


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months.  The  pinnae  are  lanceolate,  and  usually  broadest  at 
the  base,  where  they  join  the  rachis  by  a  very  short  but  evi- 
dent petiole.  They  taper  gradually  to  the  apex,  which  is  acute 
or  even  acuminate  in  most  specimens,  but  is  now  and  then 
"  rather  obtuse,"  as  Hooker  remarks  in  his  work  on  the  Brit- 
ish Ferns.  The  surface  appears  smooth ;  but  careful  examina- 
tion reveals  a  slight  pubescence  along  the  midribs  and  veins, 
especially  on  the  under  surface.  The  segments  are  ovate- 
oblong,  with  mostly  entire  edges,  and  a  rounded  or  at  most 
scarcely  acute  apex ;  though  the  apex  often  seems  acute  in  the 
fertile  fronds,  on  account  of  the  frequently  revolute  margins  of 
the  segments.  The  lower  segments  are  rarely  enlarged  and 
pinnately  toothed,  or  lobed.  The  veins  are  free.  Commonly 
the  veins  fork  near  the  midvein  into  two  divergent  veinlcts ; 
but  very  often  only  the  lower  veins  are  thus  forked,  and  the 
upper  ones  are  simple,  as  in  A.  Noveboracense. 

The  fruit-dots  are  of  small  size,  and  are  placed  on  the 
back  of  the  veins,  just  above  the  place  of  forking  ;  or,  if  the 
veins  are  simple,  nearer  the  midvein  than  the  margin.  The 
indusium  is  minute,  reniform,  and  somewhat  glandular  on 
the  margin.     The  spores  are  oval,  and  densely  muricated. 

Plate  XXX.  —  Aspidium  Thelypteris.  Fig.  i  is  a  plant  from  Salem, 
Massachusetts,  with  two  fronds,  one  of  them  fertile.  The  long  creeping 
root-stock,  with  several  rudimentary  fronds  rising  from  it  at  intervals,  is 
well  represented.  Figs.  2  and  3,  a  sterile  and  a  fertile  pinna.  Fig.  4, 
an  indusium.     Fig.  5,  a  spore.     The  last  two  figures  only  are  magnified. 


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FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


837 


Plate  XXXI.  — Figs.  1-3. 

POLYPODIUM   VULGARE,  Linn/Eus. 

Common  Polypody. 

PoLYPODiUM  VULGARE:  —  Root-stocks  chaffy,  extensively 
creeping  and  entangled ;  stalks  scattered,  green  and  herba- 
ceous, rather  slender,  naked,  two  to  eight  inches  long ;  fronds 
evergreen,  sub-coriaceous,  smooth,  two  to  ten  inches  long,  ovate- 
oblong  to  oblong-linear,  acuminate,  pinnatifid  almost  to  the  mid- 
rib;  segments  numerous,  spreading,  linear -oblong,  acute  or 
obtuse,  the  lower  ones  separated  by  rounded  sinuses,  the  upper 
sinuses  acute;  margins  obscurely  crenulate- serrate,  less  com- 
monly serrate,  or  even  incised ;  veins  all  free,  usually  with  three 
or  four  veinlets,  the  lowest  anterior  veinlets  bearing  at  their 
thickened  ends  the  sub-globose  sori  midway  between  the  mid- 
rib and  the  margin  of  the  segments. 

Polypodium  viilgare,  Linn^us,  Sp.  Pi.,  p.  1544.  —  Michaux,  F1.  Bor.  Am., 
ii.,  p.  271.  —  SwARTZ,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  34.  —  Schkuhr,  Krj'pt.  Gcw., 
p.  12,  t.  II.  —  WiLLDENow,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  172.  —  PuRsir,  FI.  Am. 
Sept.,  ii.,  p.  658.  —  BiGELow,  Fl.  Bost.,  ed.  iii.,  p.  417.  —  Gray, 
Manual,  ed.  i.,  p.  622;  ed.  il.,  p.  590,  t.  ix. —  Moore,  Nat. 
Print.  Brit.  Ferns,  t.  i.,  ii.,  iii.  (excluding  a  portion  of  the 
synouymy). —  Koch,  Syn.  FI.  Germ.,  ed.  iii.,  p.  730.  —  Mette- 
Nius,  Polypodium,  p.  61. — Maximowicz,  Prim.  Fl.  Amur.,  p.  337. 
—  Hooker,    Brit.   Ferns,  t.   2;    Sp.  Fil.,   iv..  p.  305.  —  Hooker 


I 


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a^B 


FERNS   OF  NORTH    AMERICA. 


!j   I  I 


&  Haker,   Syn.   Fil.,   p.   334.  —  McKen,  Ferns  of  Natal,  p.   19. 

—  Mii.nE,    Fil.   Eur.   ct   Atl.,   p.    18.  —  Williamson,    Ferns    of 
Kentucky,  p.  35,  t.  iv. 

Polypodium  vuigare,  var.  Amcricanittn,  Hooker,  FI.  Bor.  Am.,  ii.,  p.  258. 

—  ToRREY,  Fl.  N.  Y.,  ii.,  p.  484. 
Ctenopteris  vulgaris,  Newman,  Hist.  Brit.  Ferns,  p.  42. 

Polypodium  Virs^iniantim,  Linn.eus,  Sp.  PI.,  p.  1545.  —  Swari7,  Syn.  Fil., 

p.    34. VVlLLDENOW,    Sp.     PI.,    v.,    p.     174.  —  PURSH,     Fl.    Am. 

Sept.,  ii.,  p.  658. 
Polypodium    Cambricum,  Linn.eus,  Sp.  PI.,  p.   1546   (a  form   with  pin- 

natifid  segments). 
Polypodium  auslra/e,  Fee,  Gon.  Fil.,  p.  236  (the  same  as  P.  Cambricum, 

but  coming  from  Sardinia,   Teiuriffc,  etc.). 

Had.  —  On  rocks  both  shadeil  and  sunny,  and  on  banks,  less  fre- 
quently on  trunks  of  trees ;  a  very  common  and  abundant  species.  Tlie 
North  -  American  range  extends  from  the  Atlintic  to  the  Pacific,  and 
from  the  Slave  River  and  Winnipeg  \'alley  to  the  mountains  of  Colo- 
rado, Arkansas,  and  North  Carolina,  and  probably  to  those  of  Alabama 
also.  A  form  with  acute  segments  (var.  occidentale  of  Hooker)  occurs 
in  California,  Oregon,  and  British  ColumlHa;  but  specimens  of  tin;  ordi 
nary  type  have  been  sent  from  Ur.alaska  and  Vancouver's  Island,  as 
well  as  from  the  boundary -line  of  British  Columbia  and  Wasliingtoii 
Territory.  Throughout  Europe  and  Northern  Asia  to  Kamtschatka  and 
Japan ;  Azores,  Madeira,  Barbary  .States,  and  Cajie  Colony.  Me.xico 
and  the  Hawaiian  Islands  are  also  mentioned  by  some  authors ;  but  the 
evidence  is  not  satisfactory. 

Description.  —  The  root -.stocks  arc  elongated  and   creep- 
ing, attaining  a  length    of   several    inches,  and   a  diameter  of 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


239 


two  or  two  and  a  half  lines.  They  arc  usually  branched  and 
more  or  less  entangled,  and  comnionly  grow  with  the  upper 
surface  exjjosed  to  the  air.  They  are  of  a  firm  fleshy  consist- 
ency when  fresh,  hut  Iw-'conie  hard  and  somewhat  shrivelled 
when  dry.  The  color  is  greenish  throughout  their  substance ; 
but  in  dried  specimens  the  surface  is  often  white  pruinose. 
Scattered  along  the  root-stock  are  slightly  raised  roundish 
protul)crances,  with  the  top  slightly  concave.  These  are  the 
scars  which  mark  the  position  of  former  fronds,  and,  as  re- 
marked on  p.  116,  form  one  of  the  characteristics  of  true 
Polypodia.  The  whole  root-stock  is  covered  with  ovate-acumi- 
nate brownish  chaffy  scales,  pcltately  attaclunl  ne.ir  the  base. 
The  middle  p)rtion  of  the  scales,  and  the  slender  acumina- 
tion,  are  often  darker  in  color  than  the  border,  which  is 
irregularly  erose-ciliate  or  denticulated. 

The  stalks  arc  smooth  and  slender,  and  u.sually  a  little 
shorter  than  the  fronds  ihey  support.  They  arc  brownish  at 
the  base,  Ijccoming  green  higher  up,  and,  while  tough  in  tex- 
ture, are  very  flexible.  At  the  base  they  are  nearly  terete,  but 
have  along  each  side  a  slightly  prominent  line,  which,  as  it 
approaches  the  frond,  becomes  more  and  more  evident,  and  so 
is  gradually  developed  into  a  very  narrow  wing  desceiiding  from 
the  segments  of  the  frond.  The  fibro-vascular  bundle  is  soli- 
tary in  the  specimens  I  have  examined ;  but,  in  large  fronds, 
Dr.  Milde  has  found  two  or  three. 

The  frond  is  evergreen,  sul>coriaceous,  smooth  :  in  outii 
it  varies    from    ovate  to  oblong-linear,  and  in  length  from  half 


u 


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340 


IKRNS  OF   NORIII   AMKRIC.V 


an  inch  (Colorado  plants)  to  nino  inches  (Ncuf  York),  or  even 
fourteen  inches  (Madeira).  Similarly  its  width  varies  from 
four  lines  to  nearly  six  inches.  But  the  usual  size  of  fronds 
in  the  Northern  States  is  from  six  to  eij^lit  inches  lonj^,  and 
two  or  two  and  a  half  wide.  The  fronds  are  so  deeply  pin- 
natifid  that  the  incisions  extend  almost  to  the  rachis,  and  con- 
tij^uous  segments  are  connected  hy  only  the  narrowest  winj;. 
The  scjfments  are  usually  oblon^'-linear  from  a  more  or  less 
ililatetl  base ;  the  lower  ones  hut  little  if  any  shorter  than  the 
middle  ones,  and  the  upjxr  ones  decreasing  gradually,  and  so 
passing  into  the  incised  or  serrate  and  commonly  acuminate 
ajK'X.  The  lower  sinuses  are  broad  and  rounded,  and  the  upper 
ones  narrower  and  more  acute.  The  number  of  segments  in 
an  ordinary  fronil  is  from  fourteen  to  eighteen  on  each  side. 
Some  very  much  dwarfeil  plants  collected  by  Professor  John 
Wolf  at  an  altitude  of  eleven  thousand  feet,  n*'ar  the  Twin 
Lakes  of  Colorado,  have  only  four  or  five  little  roundish-oblong 
lolxrs  on  each  side ;  and,  to  go  to  the  other  extreme,  some 
fine  British  fronds  have  as  many  as  twenty-three  lobes  on  each 
side.  The  lobes  are  either  obtuse  or  acute  at  the  apex;  and, 
though  the  obtuse  form  is  commoner  here  than  in  liurope, 
neither  condition  is  confined  to  either  siile  of  the  ocean.  The 
margin  of  the  segments  is  also  variable,  being  commonly  ob- 
scurely serrulate,  often  undulate,  coarsely  serrate  (in  specimens 
from  the  south  of  LLuropc  especially),  or  even  again  pinnatifid ; 
in  which  condition  it  has  lx;en  found  in  several  countries  of 
Iiuro|K",   and    at    least    twite    in    the     United    States.      Fronds 


I!   ) 


31 


fi:rns  of  norjh  amkru  a. 


24 1 


with  forked  or  variously  ^  istortcd  sijrimnls  arc  by  no    means 
uncommon. 

Dr.  Mildc  indicates  ten  varieties,  —  coniiiiiiiie,  attcuuatum, 
rotiindatiuii,  aiifj^iistinii,  brevi/tcs,  aiirituiii,  scrrafiiiii,  occidetitale, 
Tcucriffu\  and  Cambnciiin.  The  tirst  'iw^i  differ  merely  l)y 
lonj.jer  or  shorter  obtuse  or  acute  fronds  and  seifments ;  the 
si.xth  is  an  occasional  monstrosity  ;  the  seventh  {svrratiini  of 
Willdenow)  includes  the  lar}.(e  forms  of  Southern  Hurope,  etc., 
havinj;  serrati-d  segments  ;  the  eighth  {occiih'iitalc  of  Hooker) 
is  the  plant  of  the  Pacific  coast,  h.iving  acuminate  segments ; 
the  ninth  is  a  sub -glaucous  form  from  Teneriffe  and  the 
Azores;  and  the  last  (Caiiibrictiiii )  is  an  old  Linn.ean  spe- 
cific name  for  a  form,  first  found  in  Wales,  in  which  the  i)ri- 
mary  segments  are  much  widened,  and  pinn.itifid  into  numerous 
ery  narrow  serrulate  lobes.  This  variety  is  made  to  include 
Mocre's  var.  seiiii/accniiii,  which  differs  principally  in  being 
bipinnatifid  only  in  the  lower  half,  and  often  fertile;  while 
the  original  Cambriciiiii  is  bipinnatifid  tiiroughout,  and  almost 
always  sterile.  Var.  Ctiinbriciiiii  has  been  found  near  Stoning- 
ton,  Connecticut,  by  Miss  Kate  Stanton  of  that  \  illage,  and  at 
Cold  Spring.  New  York,  by  Miss  Sarah  P.  Monks,  at  the  time 
a  student  in  Vassar  College.  Professor  Robinson  finds  in 
Essex  County,  Massachusetts,  various  forms  referrible  to  var. 
auri/iim. 

The  veins  are  all  free,  and  the  veinlets  have  thickened 
apices.  In  the  smaller  fronds  the  veins  are  forked  into  two 
nearly  etpial  veinlets,  of  which  the  upper  one  may  bear  a  sorus 


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242 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


at  its  extremity.  In  somewhat  larger  plants  the  lower  veinlet 
of  each  pair  is  again  forked ;  and  this  is,  perhaps,  the  com- 
monest arrangement.  In  var.  occidentale  the  middle  one  of 
the  three  veinlets  is  once  more  forked,  as  it  is  also  in  large 
fronds  from  Europe.  Var.  serratum  has  as  many  as  five  vein- 
lets  in  each  group;  and  in  var.  Cambricum  the  primary  veins 
are  elongated,  and  bear  numerous  simple  or  forked  secondary 
veinlets. 

The  rounded  sori  are  about  one  line  in  diameter,  and  are 
borne  about  midway  between  the  midrib  and  the  margins  of 
the  segments.  The  sporangia  have  the  proper  vertical  incom- 
plete ring  of  the  sub-order.  The  number  of  joints  in  the  ring 
of  Polypodiacece  is  variable ;  the  extremes,  according  to  Fee, 
being  ten  and  thirty -two.  In  the  present  species  I  have 
observed  thirteen,  fourteen,  and  fifteen.  The  spores  arc  rather 
large,  yellowish,  and  oblong-reniform  :  they  have  a  single  vitta 
or  band  along  the  concave  side,  and  the  surface  is  minutely 
areolatcd  or  reticulated. 

The  young  fronds  appear  in  the  spring,  and  by  August 
or  SeptemlxT  are  in  full  fruit.  They  remain  green  through 
the  winter,  the  emptied  sporangia  still  clinging  to  them  till 
after  the  new  fronds  are  dc\'eloped  in  the  succeeding  season. 

Plate  XXXI.,  Figs.  1-3.  —  Polypodium  vutgare.  Fig.  i  is  a  plant 
from  Hcvc;rly.  Massachusetts,  of  the  common  form  in  New  Fngland ; 
Fig.  2,  a  sporangium;  Fig.  3,  a  spore.  The  last  two  are  more  or  less 
magnified. 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


243 


P1.ATE  XXXI.  — Figs.  4.  5. 

POLYPODIUM    CALIFORNICUM,  Kaulfuss. 

California^.  Polypody. 

PoLYPODiUM  Califgrnicum  :  —  Root-Stock  creeping,  chaffy 
with  light-brown  scales ;  stalks  greenish,  straw-colored  when 
dry,  smooth  ;  fronds  from  a  few  inches  to  a  foot  long,  ovate 
or  ovate- oblong,  papery- herbaceous,  or,  if  grown  near  the  sea. 
of  firmer  texture,  pinnatifid  almost  to  the  midrib ;  segments 
numerous,  oblong -linear,  obtuse  or  acute,  the  lower  ones 
mostly  opposite,  narrowed  at  the  lower  side  of  the  base,  and 
separated  by  rounded  sinuses,  the  upper  ones  opposite  or  al- 
ternate, dilated  at  the  base,  especially  on  the  upper  side,  and 
with  narrower  sinuses  ;  margins  obscurely  or  plainly  serrate  ; 
veins  producing  four  to  six  veinlets,  and  often  forming  oblique 
areolations ;  sori  slightly  elliptical,  rather  remote  from  the 
margin. 

Polypodium  Californicum,  Kaulfuss,  Eniim.  Fil.,  p.  102.  —  Hooker  & 
Arnott,  Bot.  Bcechey's  Voy.,  pp.  161,  405.  —  Torrf.v,  Pacif. 
R.  Rep.,  iv.,  p.   159.  —  HIatox,  in  Bot.  Mex.  Boundary,  p.  235. 

—  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  v.,  p.   18.— Hooker   &    Baker,   Syn.   Fil. 
P-  34I'  —  [Not  P-  Californicum  of  MtrrENius,  Pol.,  p.  71.] 

Polypodium  intermedium,  Hooker  &  Arnoi  r,  Bot.  Bcechey's  Voy.,  p.  405. 

—  Hooker,  F1.  Bor.-Am.,  ii.,  p.  258.— Tokrkv,  Pacif.  R.  Rep., 
iv.,  p.   159.  —  BRACKENRinr.E.  Fil.  of  U.S.  Expl.  Fxped..  p.  9. 


\\ 


s 


244 


FF.RN3  0|-   NOR  III   AMKRICA. 


■k 


w 


3i,i! 


Afargimiria   Califoniica,   Pui;si.,    Tfiit.   I'tcritl.,  p.    i}?8. 

Two  principal  forms  occur :  — 

\'ar.  KauljHssii.  —  IVond  tirm-cliarlaccous  ;  segments  narrowly  ob- 
long-linear; veinlcts  regularly  forming  a  single  series  of  narrow  obliciue 
areolcs. 

Var.  intcrmcJium.  —  I'Voml  lierhaceoiis  or  memhranaceous ;  s<!g- 
ments  broatlly  oblong-linear ;  veinlets  forming  only  scattered  areoles. 

Mail  —  California,  apparently  confmetl  to  the  region  west  of  the 
Coast  Range  of  mountains,  ami  to  the  islands  lying  off  the  shore. 
\'ar.  h'ttii/fiissii  has  been  collected  at  San  Diego,  at  .San  Luis  Obispo, 
near  .San  Francisco,  on  Ciuadalupc  Island,  etc..  usually  on  rocks  near 
the  sea.  Var.  itittrmcdiiim,  on  shadi-d  rocks  on  islands  in  the  Hay  of 
San  Francisco,  on  Monte  l)iai)lo,  at  .San  Diego,  in  Marin  and  Mendocino 
Counties,  and  in  other  places  in  the  same  general  region. 

DiiscRiPiioN.  —  The  root-stock  is  creeping,  with  the  upper 
side  cxpcscd  to  tlic  air,  as  in  /'.  vitlgare,  and  is  chaffy  with 
very  similar  scales.  The  stalks  arc  not  cjiiitc  so  slender  as 
in  the  other  species,  and  contain  three  or  four  fibro-vascular 
bundles.  In  the  living  plant  the  stalks  are  probably  green 
and  flexible ;  but  in  the  dried  specimens  they  arc  straw- 
color. 

The  largest  fronds  I  have  seen  are  a  foot  long,  and  five 
and  a  half  inches  wide ;  but  more  commonly  the  fronds  are 
six  or  eight  inches  long,  and  about  three  inches  broad.  The 
texture  of  fronds  from  inland  localities  is  rather  thinner  than 
in  P.  vulgare,  and  the  veins  are  more  easily  seen  ;  but  plants 
from   the    seacoast.   which   are   evidently   similar   to   those  de- 


I    ■•!■ 


KKRNS  Ol-    NORTfl   AMF.RKA. 


245 


scriljcd  by  Kaulfuss,'  have  a  firmer  frond,  and  less  conspicuous 
veins.  The  fronds  are  commonly  ovate  in  outline,  tboi'gh  occa- 
sionally somewhat  narrower,  and  then  ovate-oblong.  The  seg- 
ments numlx;r  from  thirteen  to  sixteen  on  a  side  in  fronds  of 
average  size.  The  lower  ones  are  much  more  frecjucntly  oppo- 
site tiian  in  /'.  vulgafe,  and  arc  generally  somewhat  narrowed 
at  the  base,  leaving  broad  open  sinuses  l)etwcen  them.  Towards 
the  apex  of  the  frond  the  segments  arc  alternate,  and  are  so 
closely  placed  as  to  leave  only  narrow  and  very  acute  sinuses. 
The  segments  are  oblong  -  linear,  either  obtuse  or  acute,  and 
have  the  margin  serrated,  sometimes  obscurely  so,  and  at 
other  times  sharply  serrate,  or  even  almost  incised.  The  veins 
are  branched  much  as  in  the  last  species,  but  have  rather 
more  numerous  veinlets.  In  \ar.  intermedium  the  veinlets 
form  an  areole  only  here  and  there ;  but  in  var.  Kaiilfussii, 
which  runs  by  gradations  into  the  inland  form,  there  is  a 
regular  series  of  areoles  each  side  of  the  midrib. 

The  sori  are  rather  nearer  the  midrib  than  the  margin, 
placed  on  the  thickened  termination  of  the  superior  basal  vein- 
let  of  each  group,  and,  when  well  preserved,  are  almost  inva- 
riably oval    in    shape.      The  number  of   joints  in  the  ring  is 

'  The  orifiinal  character  j;ivcn  by  Kaulfuss  reaiis  thus,  when  translated : 
"  Polypodium  with  ileeply  pinnatifiil  fronds,  the  segments  oblong,  rctiise,  sharply 
serrate,  the  lower  ones  narrowed  at  the  base,  and  dccurrent ;  veins  oblique,  paral- 
lel, veinlets  forking  and  anastomosing  ;   sori  ovate,  solitary. 

"Hah.  —  In  California.     Chamisso. 

"  Similar  to  Polypodium  vtilgarc,  but  very  distinct ;  the  veinlets  anastomos- 
ing near  the  margin  of  the  segment,  and  enclosing  an  ovate  fruit-dot." 


'  '5 


OiE 


ill 


346 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


pretty  uniformly  twelve.  The  spores  are  yellowish,  oblong- 
reniform  with  flattish  sides,  which  meet  at  the  concave  side, 
and  there  form  a  thin  and  very  narrow  wing.  The  surface  of 
the  spore  is  covered  with  very  minute  slightly-elevated  roundish 
areolations,  like  the  rind  of  an  orange  on  a  greatly-reduced 
scale. 

While  in  var.  intermedium  this  species  makes  an   incon- 
veniently near  approach  to  P.  vulgare,  in  var.  Kaulfussii  it 
shows  quite  as  close  an  affinity  to  several  species  of  the  sec 
tion  Goniophlebium,  especially  to  P.  Cathariua  of  Langsdorff 
&  Fischer  (Ic.  Fil.,  p.  9,  t.  9). 

It  may  be  noticed  in  this  connection  that  Mildc  says  of 
the  veinlets  of  P.  vulgare,  var.  serratum,  "Interdum  ramos 
anastomosantes  inveni." 

Plate  XXXI.,  Figs.  4,  5.  —  Polypodium  Californicum.  Tlie  frond 
selected  for  drawing  was  collected  at  San  Diego  by  Mr.  D.  Cleveland, 
and  represents  the  var.  intermedium.  Fig.  5  is  a  portion  of  a  segment 
slightly  enlarged,  and  shows  the  irregular  character  of  the  venation. 


1 


I 


m 


!  .'! 


1 


i^ll 


^ 

r 

1. 

m 

14 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


247 


1    -1 


Plate  XXXII.  — Figs.  i.  2. 

SCOLOPENDRIUM    VULGARE,  Smith. 

Hart's-Tongue. 

ScoLOPENDRiUM  VULGARE  :  —  Root-stoclc  short,  erect  or 
inclined,  chaffy  as  are  the  short  tufted  stalks  ;  fronds  simple, 
half  a  foot  to  a  foot  and  a  half  long,  one  to  two  inches  wide, 
oblong-ligulate  from  a  deeply  cordate  and  somewhat  auricled 
base ;  veins  forked  usually  twice,  veinlcts  free ;  involucres 
elongated,  placed  face  to  face  in  pairs  on  contiguous  veinlets. 

Scolopendriimt  vulgarc.  Smith,  in  Mem.  Acad.  Turin,  v.,  p.  421,  t.  9, 
fig.  2.  —  Moore,  Nat.  Pr.  Brit.  Ferns,  t.  xlii.  —  Hooker,  Brit. 
Ferns,  t.  37.  —  Gr.\y,  Manual,  cd.  v.,  p.  662,  t.  17.  —  Hooker 
&  B.VKER,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  246.  —  Milde,  Fil.  Eur.  et  .-^  '    it.,  p.  89. 

—  Lawson,  in  Canad.  Nat,  i.   (1864),  p.  278. 
Scolopcndrium  ojficinanim,  Swartz,  in  "Schraders  Jour.  (1800),  ii.,  p.  61 ;" 

Syn.  Fil.,  p.  89.  —  Schkuhr,  Krypt.  Gew.,  p.  78,  t.  83.  —  Pursii, 
Fl.  Am.  Sept.,  ii.,  p.  667. — Torrev,  F1.  New  York,  ii.,  p.  490. 

—  Gr^vy,    Manual,    ed.    i.,    p.    626,   etc. — J.  A.  Paine,  in    Silli- 
man's  Journ.,  Sept.   1866,  p.  281. 

Asplenium  S  jlopmdyium,  Linn.eus,  Sp.  PI.,  p.  1537.  —  Pu.su,  Journal 
of  a  Botan.  Excursion,  p.  f-\. 

Hab.  —  In  the  crevices  of  broken  lime-rock,  in"  deep  ravines;  On- 
ondaga and  Madison  Counties,  New  York,  and  Owen  Sound,  Ontario, 
Canada;    Chiapas,  in  Mexico;    Europe,  from  the   British    Islands   to   tiie 


■A 


348 


IKRNS   OK   NORTH    AM  K.RICA 


Caucasus ;  also  in  Syria.  Turkc-stan,  Japan.  Alji^iers,  Madeira,  ami  the 
Azores.  For  a  full  discussion  of  the  .American  stations,  sec  the  article 
by  Professor  Paine  above  referrtnl  to,  ami  compare  wiih  Pursh's  Journal. 

DiisCRiiTloN. — The  liart's-tongiic,  though  among  the  rar- 
est of  American  ferns,  is  a  common  plant  in  luirope.  It  iias 
a  short  root -stock,  with  adherent  clustered  stalks,  which  are 
very  chaffy,  with  narrow  light-brown  scales.  The  stalks  are 
only  a  few  inches  long,  nearly  terete,  and  contain  a  single  fibro- 
vascular  bundle,  which  has  three  little  bands  of  sclerenchyma 
on  its  exterior  surface.  The  texture  of  the  living  frond  is 
sub  -  coriaceous  ;  but  it  becomes  more  chartaceous  in  drying. 
The  undivided  and  tongue-like  frond  is  usually  undulate  on 
the  margin,  and  may  be  either  obtuse  or  acute  at  the  apex. 
Rarely  the  basal  auricles  are  wanting.  The  sori  are  made  up 
of  two  Asplcnioid  sori  facing  each  other  on  adjacent  veinlets. 
Moore  describes  sixty- six  variations  of  form,  some  of  them 
exceedingly  strange  and  abnormal.  The  genus,  strictly  limited, 
contains  three  other  species  ;  but  Hooker  extends  it  so  as  to 
include  Antignimmc,  Camptosonis,  ami  ScliaffiierLi. 

The  specimen  drawn  is  smaller  tiian  tiie  average,  and  was  col- 
lected at  DeVVitt,  (Jnondaga  County,  New  York,  by  Mr.  L.  M.  Underwood. 


KKRNS  OK   NORTH   AM  FORK  A. 


249 


Pi  ATI.    XXXII.  — Fk;s.  3-5. 

LOMAKIA    SPICANT,  Dicsvaux. 

Hard-Fern  or  Deer-Fern. 

Lo.MARJA  SncANT :— Root  -  Stock  short  and  thick,  very 
chaffy;  fronds  tufted,  erect,  sniootli,  sterile  oms  nearly  ses- 
sile, or  short-stalked,  sub-coriaceous,  narrowly  linear-lanceolate. 
si.\  to  thirty  inches  lony,  one  to  three  inches  wide-,  taperinj,^ 
from  aI)ove  the  middle  to  both  ends,  pinnatifid  to  the  rachis 
into  very  numerous  close -set  oblong  or  oblont,^- linear  often 
upwardly  curved  obtuse  or  apiculate  segments,  the  lower  ones 
gradually  diminished  to  minute  auricles  ;  fertile  fronds  taller 
than  the  sterile,  long-stalked,  pinnate  ;  the  i)inna-  less  crowded, 
longer  and  much  narrower  than  the  st.:rile  segments,  sessile 
by  a  suddenly  dilated  base  ;  involucres  just  within  the  margin  ; 
mature  sporangia  nearly  covering  the  back  of  the  pinn.e. 

I^muvia  Spicant,  Di:.svAU.\,  in  Ma.u-  d.  Ciescliscli.  Xatiiilorsdi.  I'Veunde 
zii  I5u-iiii.  V.  (iSii),  p.  ;,25.— Pki:si.,  Tent.  I't.rid.,  p.  1.^2. — 
Rei'Rixirr.  Uist.  Crypt.  \asc.  in  Imp.  Ross.,  p.  45.— Hua.  ki;n- 
KMua-,  Fil.  U.  S.  I'.xpl.  I'xpi^l.,  p.  12,;.  — iI,M,Ki:K,  Sp.  I-il..  iii.. 
p.    14.  —  IIooKKK  iS:  Hakkk,  Svn.  I-il.,  p.    i -,S. 

Lomaria  borca/is.  Link,  -  Mort.  Hcrol.,  ii.,  p.  ,So ; "  I'il.  Hort.  Muroi., 
P-  75- 

Osmiiiida  Sfiicant,  I.iw.kus,  Sp.  PI.,  p.   1522. 

Oiwilcit  SpiianI,   I  I.iiimann.  "  Ueiitsclilaiuis  hiora,  ii..  p.    11." 


•*i 


i 


1  f- 


:'s 


MX 


350 


IKRNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


lUccknum   Spiciiiit.   Smiiii,   in   Mom.  Acad.    Turin,  v.,  p.  411. —  Nf.w.man. 

Hist.   Hrit.   I'l'ins,  p.   17. —  Mooiuc,  Nat.  IV.   Miit.  I'erns,  t.  xliii. 

—  MiiDi,  ill  Nov.  Act.  .Acad.  Nat.  Cur,  xxvi.,  ii.,  p.  612;    l-il. 

V.wv.  ct  .\tlant.,  p.  46. 
lilcchnum   horcalc.    .Swaki/,    "in    .Sclirailcrs   Journal,    ii.   (iS(X)),  p.  75;" 

.Syn.    I"il.,    p.    115.  —  .SiiiKLiiK,    Krypt.    Gow.,  j).    loj,  t.    1 10. — 

Wii  1  HI  M>\\,  .Sp.   I'l.,  v.,  p.  408. —  HooKKK,  llrit.   I'crns,  t.  40. 
StC};iiHia  borciilis.  K.   IJrow.n,   I'nulr.   I'l.  Nov.-Holl.,  p.    152. 
Spicanta  borcalii,  I'ki.si.,  ICpiin.  Hot.,  p.  1 14.     (For  otlu;r  synonymy,  scu 

W'iildciK.iV  and  Mooro  in  tlu;  works  ahovc  referred  to.) 

1  Iau  —  ( )n  the  ^rouiul  in  dense  forests,  and  sometimes  in  open 
places,  from  .Mendocino  County,  California,  to  Orejrron,  Tntish  Colum- 
bia, and  Sitka  ;  l^uroi)e,  from  the  extreme  North  to  the  ..slands  of  the 
Mediterranean  and  Madeira ;  also  in  the  Caucasus,  Kamtschalka,  and 
Japan. 

DicscKii'TioN.  —  The  root-stock  is  short  and  thick,  erect 
or  inclined,  covered  with  imbricating  stalk -bases,  and  very 
chaffy.  The  stalks  arc  numerous,  and  clustered  at  the  end  of 
the  root-stock.  They  are  chaffy  at  the  base,  with  very  rigid, 
nearly  entire,  lanceolate -acuminate  dark -brown  scales,  often 
provideil  with  a  still  darker  and   ilenser  midrib. 

The  fronds  are  dimorphous,  the  fertile  ones  being  very 
unlike  the  sterile.  The  sterile  fronds  have  a  stalk  from  one 
to  eight  inches  long;  and  the  fronds  themselves  are  from  six 
to  thirty  inches  hing,  narrowly  lanceolate  in  outline,  and  taper 
both  ways  from  just  above  the  middle,  the  lower  segments 
being  gradually  shorter  and  shorter  to  the  base,  where  they 
appear    like    little    disconnected    wings    along    the    sides    of    the 


FKRNS  OF   NORTH   AMKRICA. 


25« 


niiilril).  The  middle  segments,  or  pimi.x'  (for  they  arc  fairly 
distinct  from  each  other),  are  closely  plact-d,  six  to  eighteen 
lines  long,  oblong  or  oblong-linear  from  a  slightly  dilated  base, 
and  usually  curved  upwards.  Their  margin  is  either  entire,  or 
obscurely  crenulate  towards  the  apex,  which  is  oftenest  obtuse. 
In  a  small  frond  there  are  from  twenty-f<nir  to  thirty  segments 
on  each  side,  while  on  a  very  large  frond  from  California  as 
many  as  seventy-eight  segments  may  be  counted  on  each  side. 
The  sterile  fronds  arc  sub-coriaceous  in  texture,  and  more  rigid 
than  most  ferns ;  whence  the  name  of  "  hard-fern."  The  veins 
fork  once  near  the  midrib;  and  the  tips  of  the  free  veinlets, 
just  within  the  margin  of  the  segment,  are  slightly  swollen, 
and  often  marked  by  depressed  dots  on  the  upi)er  surface. 

The  fertile  fronds  are  fewer  in  number  than  the  sterile,  and 
stand  much  higher,  having  stalks  many  times  longer  than  the 
others.  Like  the  sterile  fronds,  they  are  narrowly  lanceolate 
in  outline;  but  the  pinna?  are  very  much  narrower,  and  often 
a  little  longer.  The  veins  are  simple,  and  unite  so  as  to  form 
a  series  of  rhomboid-oblong  arcoles  along  each  side  of  the 
midvein,  and  very  rarely  are  produced  beyond  the  outer  bound- 
ary of  these  areoles.  Nearly,  but  not  always  exactly,  coinciilenl 
with  this  outer  side  of  the  areoles,  is  a  continuous  vein-like 
receptacle,  which  bears  the  sporangia,  and  is  produced,  outside 
of  them,  into  a  very  delicate  continuous  involucre,  the  free  edge 
of  which  is  turned  towards  the  midvein.  When  the  sporan- 
gia arc  mature  the  involucres  arc  thrown  back,  anil  the  fruit 
seems  to  cover  the  whole  under   surface   of   the    pinncTe.     The 


\''i 


353 


FKRNS   OK   NORTH    AMKKICA. 


jrrccn  tissue  of  the  frond  is  sometimes  evidently  continued 
outside  tiie  receptacle,  and  tiien  the  character  is  rather  that 
of  Blcchmtm  than  of  Loinana ;  and,  indeed,  the  species  has 
about  an  equal  rij,dit  in  Ixith  ^fcnera,  and,  in  consetiuencc,  has 
always  lx;en  a  puzzle  to  systematists.  The  sporangia  have 
a  ring  of  nineteen  or  twenty  articulations ;  and  the  spores  are 
roundish-ovoid,  with  a  minutely  roughened  surface. 

The  magnificent  plants  of  the  Pacific  coast  were  named 
var.  ehmgata  by  Sir  VV.  J.  Hooker  in  the  Species  Filicuiii,  but 
seem  to  pass  by  grailations  into  the  smaller  and  more  con- 
ilensed  form  commonly  seen  in  Europe.  This  liuropean  form 
was  collected  near  Astoria  in  Oregon  by  Professor  Wood,  who 
says  it  is  common  there,  and  that  it  is  calleil  "  deer-fern  "  by 
the  inhabitants.  Another  form  is  one  in  which  the  fertile  pin- 
na: are  wider,  and  the  veins  are  produced  considerably  beyond 
the  fructification,  and  the  latter  is  broken  into  short  sori,  as 
in  Doodya.  This  is  Hooker's  Blechmim  doodioidcs,  a  name 
founded  on  two  fronds  from  British  Columbia.  Milde  reports 
similar  plants  from  Silesia  and  Madeira,  and  suggests  that 
perhaps  they  represent  B.  denticulatttm  of  Swartz,  a  plant  not 
otherwise  recognizable. 

Pl/Vii;  XXXII.,  Figs.  3-5.  —  Fj>maria  Spicant.  Fig.  3  is  a  plant 
from  Crescent  City,  California,  reduced  to  one -half  the  natural  size; 
Fig.  4,  a  sterile  segment,  slightly  enlarged;  I'ig.  5,  a  part  of  a  fertile 
segment,  also  enlarged,  showing  the  arcoles  and  the  receptacle,  the 
latter  not  exactly  coincitlent  with  the  outer  veinlet  of  the  areoles. 


1« 


IM 


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FERNS  OK  NOklll   AMERICA, 


»5S 


PiATi:  XXXIII. 

BOTRYCIIIUM    VIRGINIANUM,  Swartz. 

Virginian   Grape- Fern. 

noTRYcmuM  Vik{;inianum:  — Plant  sparsely  hairy,  usually 
from  eight  inches  to  two  feet  hijjh  ;  sterile  segment  membra- 
naceous, sessile  near  the  micldlc  of  the  plant,  broadly  deltoid, 
ternate ;  the  primary  tlivisions  stalked,  once  to  three  times 
pinnatifid ;  secondary  divisions  ovate-lanceolate,  ultimate  divis- 
ions toothed  at  the  ends  ;  fertile  segment  long  -  stalked,  twice 
to  four  times  pinnate  ;  base  of  stalk  opening  by  a  longitudinal 
chink,  and  disclosing  the  pilose  bud. 

Botrychitim  I'irginianum.  .Swartz,  in  .Scliraders  Journal,  ii.  (i<Scx)),  p.  1 1 1  ; 
Syn.  I'll.,  p.  171.  —  .SniKi'iiR,  Krypt.  (Jew.,  p.  157,  t.  156.— 
RuPRKCiiT.  Dist.  Crypt.  Vase,  in  Imp.  Ross,,  p.  33.— -Miir)!. 
Fil.  Eur.  et  Atl.,  p.  207;  Rotry.  Monogr.,  p.  177.  —  Minui-i. 
Prolus.  Fl.  Jap.,  in  Ann.  Mus.  Hot.  Lug<l.-Rat.,  iii.,  p.  1S2.— 
Hooker  &  Maker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  448,  e.xrl.  Ji.  lanuginosum. — 
Davenport,  in  Hull,  Torn  Club,  vi,,  p,  197.— Wii.iiamson,  Ferns 
of  Kentucky,  p.  141,  t.  Ivi. 

Botrychium  Virginictim,  Wiii.nENOW,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  64.  —  PuRSir,  Fl. 
Am.  Sept.,  ii.,  p.  656.  —  VVAUiENnERC,  "  Fl.  Suec,  ii.,  ill., 
p.  681."  —  ToRREY,  Fl.  New  York,  ii.,  p.  506.  —  Presi,,  Suppl, 
P- 46-  —  Gray,  Manual,  cd.  i.,  p.  635,  etc.  —  Rrackenripce,  Fil. 
U.  S.  Expl.  Exped.,  p.  317.  —  Lawson,  in  Canad.  Nat.  (1864), 
p.  292.  —  FoLRMER.   PI.  Mex.  Crypt.,  p.   140. 


>^ 


254 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


'J' 


fl 


m 


sin 


Botrychium  anthemoidcsy  Presl,  "  in  Abh.  Bohm.    Gesellsch.   Wissensch., 

V.   (1848).  p.  323-" 
Ostmmda  Virginiana,  LinNvEUS,  Sp.  PI.,  p.   15 19. 

Osintinda  frottdc  pinnatifida   caiilina,  fnictificationibus   spicatis,    Grono- 
vius,  Fl.  Virg.,  p.   196. 

The  following  k-aricties  are  described  in  Milde's  "  Botrychiorum 
Monographia : "  — 

Var.  gracilc.  —  "Smaller  and  more  delicate;  ultimate  divisions  nar- 
row, sub-lineal,  sharply  toothed;  panicle  with  few  capsules."  —  Botrychium 
gracilc,  PuKsii,  Fl.  Am.  Sept.,  ii.,  p.  656. 

Var.  Mcxicanum,  Hookrr,  "  Bot.  Misc.,  iii.,  p.  223."  —  "Delicate, 
primary  segments  more  acuminate ;  secondary  ones  pinnately  parted, 
oblong,  acute,  ultimate  divisions  deeply  inciscd-toothed  ;  the  teeth  sel- 
dom more  than  six,  acute  ;  panicle  usually  much  shorter  than  the  sterile 
segment."  —  Botrychium  brachystachys,  Kunze,  in  Linnaea,  xviii..  p.  305, 

Var.  cicutarium. — Tall,  sterile  segment,  three  or  four  times  pin- 
nately parted  ;  fruiting-stalk  rising  far  below  the  base  of  the  sterile  seg- 
ment, and  the  latter,  therefore,  long-stalked  ;  panicle  mostly  shorter  than 
the  sterile  segment.  —  Botrychium  cicutarium,  Swartz,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  172. 
—  WiLLDENow,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  65. — Osmunda  cicutaria,  Lamarck,  "  Enc. 
Bot.,  iv.,  p.  650."  —  Osmunda  aspliodcli  radice,  1'i.umier,  Fil.  Am  ,  p.  136, 
t.  159. 

Har.  —  in  rich  woods  ;  from  New  Brunswick  and  Canada  to 
Washington  Territory  and  Oregon,  and  southward  to  Colorado,  Texas, 
Alabama,  and  Florida ;  also  in  Mexico,  Hayti,  New  Granada,  Venezuela, 
Ecuador,  and  Brazil,  Northern  Europe,  Siberia,  and  japan. 

Description.  —  The  Virginian  grapc-fcrn,  or  rattlesnake- 
fern  as  it  is  as  commonly  called,  is  usually  our  largest  species 


;^«ii 


li  I 


Ul 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


255 


of  this  interesting  but  troublesome  genus.  It  differs  from  all 
the  other  species  in  several  more  or  less  important  characters ; 
so  that  Dr.  Milde,  in  his  last  classification  of  the  genus,  placed 
it  in  a  separate  sub-genus,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Os- 
mundopteyis}  The  root -stock  is  very  short,  but  the  roots 
long  and  fleshy.  The  base  of  the  stalk  is  slightly  swollen, 
and  is  provided  with  a  longitudinal  fissure,  within  which  the 
bud  may  be  easily  seen.  The  bud  itself  is  decidedly  hairy, 
and,  as  Mr.  Davenport  has  shown,  has  the  "fertile  frond  re- 
curved its  whole  length,  with  the  longer  sterile  frond  reclined 
upon  it."  It  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  other  Botrychin 
the  stalk-base  completely  encloses  the  bud. 

The  common  stalk  in  a  large  plant  is  often  twelve  or 
fourteen  inches  long,  and  the  stalk  of  the  panicle  as  much 
more;  so  that  the  sterile  segment,  or  lamina  as  Dr.  iVIilde  calls 
it,  is  placed  very  near  the  middle  of  the  whole.  The  sterile 
lamina  is  broadly  triangular;  so  broad,  that  the  width  is  usually 
greater  than  the  length.  One  fine  specimen  from  New  Bruns- 
wick has  the  sterile  part  a  foot  broad,  and  eight  inches  long; 
and  equally  large  plants  arc  by  no  means  rare.  In  North 
America  the  sterile  part  is  closely  sessile  ;  but  in  the  West- 
Indian  form,  as  represented  in  Pliinier's  figure,  it  has  a  peti- 
ole  over  two  inches   long.      The    lower   primary  divisions    are 

'  "§  II.  OsMu.NDOi'TKKis.  —  Basis  iiitiina  |)otioli  jjcniniani  iiicliulciis  rinia 
loii^a  verticali  aporta ;  soginciUi  infinii  primarii  so;4monta  scciiularia  aiiailronia  in 
supcriorc  laminae  parte  autcm  ct  lertiaria  omnia  catadmnia.  Gemma  pilosa.  Col- 
luIiE  t'piilormiilis  fle.xuosos  ;  stom:...;  in  paf;ina  laniinaj  stciilis  suporioio  nulla."  — 
Boti:  MoiiOi^r.,  p.  ()6. 


•j  tJ.W| 
'1      ?'■* 


2S6 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


4  . 


ovate  in  shape,  and,  in  large  fronds,  pinnate  with  bipinnatifid 
lanceolate  acute  pinnae.  The  middle  primary  division  is  broadly 
triangular,  and  has  its  lower  pinnae  ample  and  bipinnatifid,  and 
the  successive  ones  gradually  smaller  and  less  compound.  The 
ultimate  divisions  are  oblong  or  oblong  -  ovate,  and  commonly 
inciscd-toothed  along  the  sides  and  at  the  ends.  Milde  notices 
that  the  basal  pinn.Tc  of  the  lowest  primary  segments  are  on 
the  upper  side  of  the  secondary  rachis  (anadromous),  but  that 
towards  the  apex  of  the  frond  the  lowest  pinna?  are  on  the 
lower  side  (catadromotis),  and  that  this  arrangement  prevails 
also  in  the  divisions  of  the  secondary  segments.  Var.  gracile 
is  nothing  but  a  small  form  of  the  usual  type.  Var.  cicutarium 
I  have  not  seen:  Milde  gives  Hayti  and  New  Granada  as  the 
regions  where  it  occurs.  Var.  Mexicanum  has  often  a  long 
stalk  to  the  panicle,  and  the  other  differences  are  not  any  too 
constant. 

The  sterile  segment  is  much  thinner  than  in  B.  ternatum, 
and  the  epidermis  is  composed  of  cellules  with  sinuous  mar- 
gins.    The  fronds  wither  at  the  first  frost. 


Plate  XXXIII.  Botrychiiim  Virginiantim. —  Fig.  i  is  a  plant  of 
medium  size,  from  Lynn,  Massachusetts.  The  cleft  at  the  l)ottoni  of 
the  sialic,  with  its  thin  and  semi-transparent  edges,  is  well  represented, 
and  permits  the  enclosed  bud  to  be  distinctly  seen.  Fig.  2  is  a  ckister 
of  sporangia,  magnified.     Fig.  3  is  a  spore,  iiigiily  magnified. 


"3 


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FERNS   OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


257 


Plate  XXXIV. 

ASPIDIUM  ACROSTICHOIDES,  Svvartz. 

Christmas-Fern. 

AspiDiuM  ACROSTICHOIDES:  —  Root-stock  creeping,  covered 
with  adherent  stalk-bases ;  stalks  tufted,  several  inches  long,  very 
chaffy;  fronds  one  to  two  feet  long,  evergreen,  sub-coriaceous,  lan- 
ceolate from  a  scarcely  narrowed  base,  pinnate;  pinnae  numerous, 
oblong-lanceolate,  short-stalked,  more  or  less  upwardly  falcate  or 
the  lowest  ones  slightly  deflexed,  pointed,  abruptly  narrowed  at 
the  lower  side  of  the  base,  auricled  on  the  upper  side ;  margin  ser- 
rulate with  incurved  bristle-pointed  teeth,  less  commonly  toothed 
or  incised;  veins  free,  branching;  upper  pinnae  of  the  fertile  fronds 
contracted ;  sori  terminal  on  the  lower  veinlets,  often  crowded  and 
confluent  when  ripe ;  indusium  orbicular. 

Aspidium  acrostichoidcs,  Swartz,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  44. — Sciikuhr,  Krypt.  Gew., 

p.   193. WiLLDF.NOW,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  225. PURSH,  Fl.   Am.  Sept., 

ii.,  p.  661. — ToKREV,  FI.  New  York,  11.,  p.  497. — Gray,  Manual, 

ed.  11.,  p.  599.  —  Mettenius,  Fil.  Hort.  Lips.,  p.  88;  Aspldliim,  p. 

42.  —  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  Iv.,  p.  9.  —  Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p. 

250. — Williamson,  Ferns  of  Kentucky,  p.99,  t.  xxxvl. 
Nephrodium  acrostichoidcs,  Miciiau.x,  Fl.  Bor.-Am.,  11.,  p.  267. 
Polystichum  acrostichoidcs,  Sciiott,  Gen.  FlI.  —  Pkesl,  Tent.  Pterid.,  p.  83. — 

GitAY,  Manual,  ed.  1.,  p.  632. 
Aspidium  auriculatum,  Schkuhr,  Krypt.  Gew.,  t.  30. 


iii.;i| 


h  ' 


H    It 


258 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


The  following  form  deserves  mention,  but  is  scarcely  sufficiently  distinct 
to  be  regarded  as  a  permanent  variety:  — 

Var.  incisum: — Pinnic  incisely  toothed  or  even  pinnatifid,  those  of  the 
fertile  fronds  bearing  sori  at  the  tips  clear  to  the  base  of  the  frond.  —  Gkavi 
1.  c. — Aspidium  Schwcinitzii,  Beck,  Botany  of  the  United  States  North  of 
Virginia,  ed.  i.,  p.  448. 

Had.  —  Shady  hillsides,  oftenest  in  rocky  places;  from  New  Brunswick 
and  Canada  westward  to  Wisconsin,  and  southward  to  Arkansas  and  Cen- 
tral Alabama.  In  Dr.  Chapman's  Flora  Florida  and  Mississippi  are  also 
given,  but  I  do  not  now  find  any  specimens  from  those  .States.  The  species 
has  not  been  found  anywhere  outside  of  North  America. 

DnscRiFTioN.  —  This  is  one  of  the  most  abundant  ferns  of 
Eastern  North  America,  and,  having  evergreen  fronds,  with  a  fine 
polish  on  the  upper  surface,  it  is  well  suited  to  the  purpose  of  dec- 
orating our  homes  and  churches  at  Christmas-time,  whence  the 
common  name.  The  root-stoclcs  creep  just  beneath  the  soil  for  a 
distance  of  several  inches,  and  are  thickly  covered  by  the  still  at- 
tached bases  of  old  stalks,  from  among  which  copious  branching 
fibrous  roots  are  emitted,  and  fasten  the  plant  to  the  ground.  The 
fronds  rise  in  a  graceful  crown  from  the  end  of  the  root-stock, 
most  of  them  appearing  in  early  Spring,  and  remaining  fresh  and 
green  until  the  new  growth  appears  the  next  year.  The  stalks  are 
from  three  or  four  to  eight  or  ten  inches  long,  and  in  the  living 
plant  are  nearly  terete,  being  slightly  flattened  on  the  anterior 
or  upper  side.  They  are  full-green  in  color,  becoming  brownish 
at  the  very  base.  Usually  they  are  chaffy,  with  large  and  small 
light-brown  scales  and  chaffy  hairs  intermixed.     This  chaffiness 


FERNS   or    NORTH   AMERICA. 


359 


often  follows  the  rachis  nearly  to  the  apex  of  the  frond,  but  at  oth- 
er times  it  falls  away  long  before  the  fronds  begin  to  wither,  leav- 
ing them  almost  perfectly  smooth.  A  section  of  the  stalk  shows 
four  or  five  roundish  fibro-vascular  bundles  arranged  in  a  semicir- 
cle, the  two  anterior  bundles  much  larger  than  the  others.  The 
dried  stalk  is  often  deeply  furrowed,  owing  to  the  contraction 
of  the  tissues  between  the  two  larger  bundles. 

The  fronds  in  mature  plants  are  from  one  to  two  feet 
long,  and  rarely  as  much  as  five  inches  broad.  The  pinnnc  of 
such  fronds  number  from  twenty-four  to  thirty  on  each  side, 
the  uppermost  ones  becoming  smaller  and  smaller,  and  the 
frond  ending  in  a  short  incised  or  serrated  point.  The  texture 
of  the  pinn.x  is  sub-coriaceous ;  the  upper  surface  deep-green, 
smooth  and  shining  in  the  living  plant,  but  duller  in  dried 
specimens.  The  under  surface  is  somewhat  paler  and  scantily 
scurfy-puberulent  or  minutely  chaffy.  The  largest  pinUc-E  are 
from  two  to  nearly  three  inches  long,  and  about  half  an  inch 
wide  in  the  middle.  In  shape  they  are  oblong  or  lanceolate- 
oblong  from  a  very  unequal  base,  being  suddenly  narrowed  to 
the  short  stalk  on  the  lower  side  of  the  base,  but  on  the  up- 
per side  furnished  with  a  well-developed  triangular-ovate  bristle- 
tipped  auricle.  The"  margin  is  normally  finely  serrulate  with 
bristlc-tippcd  incurved  teeth;  but  very  frequently  the  teeth  arc 
larger,  so  that  the  pinnne  arc  serrate  or  inciscd-serrate.  This 
form,  with  incised-serratc  pinna?,  is  occasionally  found  in  all  parts 
of  the  country,  and  is  indeed,  as  Prof.  F.  L.  Harvey  informs  us, 
the  common  form  in  Arkansas.     A  sterile  frond,  with  the  pinnae 


i 


26o 


FF.RNS   or   NOUTII   A>!F.RICA. 


much  more  deeply  incised  than  any  other  which  I  have  seen, 
was  collected  by  Mr.  P.  Bourquin,  near  Pemberton  in  New  Jer- 
sey, in  1867.  In  this  frond  the  incisions  are  so  deep  as  to 
render  the  pinna?  fairly  pinnatifid. 

The  two  lowest  pinn.c  of  the  frond  are  very  often  exactly 
opposite,  and  considerably  deflexed :  in  the  living  plant  they 
have  the  upper  surface  nearly  horizontal,  and  are  directed  for- 
ward, side  by  side,  nearly  at  a  right  angle  to  the  rachis.  The 
next  two  or  three  pairs  are  less  exactly  opposite,  and  less  plain- 
ly deflexed.  The  remaining  pinnae  are  regularly  alternate,  and 
commonly  show  a  slight  upward  curvature,  rendering  them  some- 
what scythe-shaped.  The  lower  pinna?  are  but  very  little  shorter 
than  those  in  the  middle  of  the  frond. 

The  veins  of  the  sterile  frond  are  free,  as  they  are  generally 
in  the  true  Polystklioid  Aspidia.  Each  vein  is  pinnatcly,  rather 
than  dichotomously,  divided  into  about  four  veinlets,  of  which 
the  lowest  one  is  on  the  upper  side  of  the  vein.  The  midvein 
of  the  pinna,  and  the  principal  vein  of  the  auricle  are  marked 
by  a  slight  channel  on  the  upper  surface  of  the  frond,  but  the 
veinlets  are  not  conspicuous  until  the  frond  is  dried,  and  are 
then  most  easily  seen  by  holding  up  the  specimen  against  the 
light. 

In  the  fertile  fronds,  which  are  often  rather  taller,  or  at 
least  more  erect,  than  the  sterile,  the  upper  third  part  of  the 
frond  is  suddenly  contracted,  so  that  the  lowest  fertile  pinna  is 
not  more  than  two-thirds  as  long  or  wide  as  the  sterile  pinna 
next  below  it.     The  sori  are  borne  near  the  midvein,  either  on 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


36r 


the  lowest  vcinlet  of  each  pf roup,  or  on  the  two  or  three  lower 
veinlets.  A  somewhat  unusual  thing  in  Aspidiiiin  occurs  in 
the  present  species;  the  sori  being  mostly  borne  at  the  ends 
of  the  veins,  which  are  enlarged  into  oval  receptacles,  much 
as  in  Polypodium.  This  peculiarity  was  observed  by  Dr. 
Mettenius,  who  says  simply  " soro  tcrminalU'  In  A.  mtmitttm 
many  of  the  sori  are  also  terminal  on  the  veins,  but  in  A. 
Loitc/iitis  they  seem  to  be  uniformly  dorsal.  It  is  also  note- 
worthy that  the  veinlets  of  a  fruiting  pinna  are  not  uniformly 
free,  but  tend  to  form  irregular  scattered  arcoles. 

In  var.  incistim  there  is  no  sudden  transition  from  ample 
sterile  pinnoe  to  contracted  fertile  ones,  but  nearly  or  quite  all 
the  pinnae  of  the  fertile  frond  are  soriferous,  the  sori  pretty 
much  covering  the  upper  pinn.-c,  but  confined  to  the  tips  of  the 
lower  ones. 

The  indusium  is  orbicular  and  peltately  attached  at  the 
centre :  its  margin  is  obscurely  crenulate,  but  devoid  of  glands. 
The  cellules  of  which  it  is  composed  have  sinuous  margins,  and 
are  arranged  in  lines  which  radiate  from  the  centre.  The  pedicels 
which  support  the  sporangia  lengthen  as  the  fruit  ripens,  so 
that  at  last  the  sporangia  form  one  confluent  mass  on  the  back 
of  the  fertile  pinnae,  looking  not  unlike  the  massed  fructifica- 
tion of  an  Acrosticlmm,  a  resemblance  which  suggested  to 
Michaux  the  specific  name  of  the  fern.  I  find  fourteen  or 
fifteen  joints  in  the  ring  of  the  sporangia.  The  spores  are 
ovoid  or  bean-shaped,  and  have  a  conspicuous  irregular  wing- 
like border. 


■'3 

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FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMIvRICA. 


1    •' 


The  Christmas-fern  is  very  easily  cultivated,  but  ilocs  lx:st 
on  slightly  shaded  rockwork. 

Plate  XXXI V.  —  Aspidimn  acrostichoides.  A  plant  of  the  common 
form,  showing  a  whole  fertile  frond  and  parts  of  two  sterile  fronds,  the 
root-stock,  etc.  At  one  side  is  a  pinna  from  the  hasc  of  a  fertile  frond 
of  var.  incisum,  and  below  it  a  pinna  from  the  sterile  frond  from  Pcm- 
berton.  New  Jersey,  above  referred  to.  The  indusium  is  also  repre- 
sented. 


Ill 


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FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


263 


Plate  XXXV, 

PTERIS  AQUILINA,   Linn^us. 

Bracken  or  Eagle-Fern. 

Pteris  AQUILINA :  — Root-stock  cord- like,  blackish,  creep- 
ing   widely   underground;    stalks    solitary,   erect,   rigid,   naked, 
swollen  and  discolored  near  the  base,  often    more   than  a  foot 
high;  fronds  sometimes  three  feet   long  and   nearly  as   broad, 
triangular -ovate   in   outline,  rigidly   sub -coriaceous,  smooth  or 
pubescent,    below   twice   or    thrice    pinnate;    principal   primary 
pinnae  stalked,  the  lowest  ones  very   large,  the  middle  and   up- 
per ones    rapidly   becoming   smaller  and   simpler;    pinnules  ob- 
long-lanceolate or   linear,   entire,   hastate   or   pinnately   parted; 
segments   oblong    or    linear,  obtuse,    the    terminal    ones   often 
elongated;  veins  close- placed,  several  times  forked,  free;   invo- 
lucre continuous  round  the   edge  of   the  pinnules,   very  often 
double. 

Pteris  aquilina,  LiN.v.^ius.  Sp.  PL,  p.1533.— Michaux,  F1.  Bor.-Am.,  ii.,  p. 
262.  — SwARTZ,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  100.  — Sciikuhu,  Kr>-pt.  Gevv.,  p.  87, 
t.  95— Willdi:no\v.  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  402.-J.  G.  Agardu,  Rcccns. 
Pteridis,  p.  49.— ToRREv,  Fl.  New  YorK,  ii.,  p.  448.  — Grav, 
Manual,  ed.  i.,  p.  624,  etc.  — Moork,  Nat.  Pr.  Brit.  Ferns,  t. 
xliv.  — Hooker,  Sp.  Fil„  ii.,  p.196,  &  iii.,  t.  cxli,  A,  B.  — Met- 
TE.ML's,  Pteris,  t.  xvi..  fig.  -li-iS-  — MA.XIMOWICZ,  Prim.  Fl.  Am- 


m 


\ 


264 


FERNS   OF    NORTH    AMERICA. 


, 


urensis,  p.  341.  —  Hooker,   Brit.   Ferns,  t.  38.  —  Bentham,   F1. 

Hongkong,  p.  449.  —  Lawsox,  in  Canad.  Naturalist,  i.,  p.   270. 

—  Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  162.  —  Miquel,  Prolusio  Fl. 

Jap.,   p.  172.  —  MiLDE,  Fil.   Eur.  et  Atlant.,   p.  45. — William- 
son, Ferns  of  Kentucky,  p.  43,  t.  vii,   viii. 
Allosorus  aquilinus,  Presl,  Tent.  Pterid.,   p.   153. 
Eupteris  aquilina,  Newm^vn,    History  of    British    Ferns,  ed.,   iii.,   p.  23. 

For   much  other  synonymy  see   Moore's  work   quoted    above 

and  Hooker's  Species  Filicum. 

The  following  varieties  are  found  in  the  United  States,  and  have 
been  considered  distinct  species,  but  both  of  them  pass  into  the  type 
by  insensible  gradations. 

Var.  lattHginosa,  Bongard.  —  Fronds  decidedly  pubescent  or  silky- 
tomentose  beneath  ;  pinnules  rarely  caudate ;  segments  ample.  —  Hook- 
er, Fl.  Am.-Bor.,  ii.,  p.  263;  Sp.  Fil.,  1.  c.  —  Pleris  lanuginosa,  Bory, 
in  WiLLDENOw,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  403.  —  Kaulfuss,  Enum.  Fil.,  p.  189. — 
Agardh,  Recens.  Pterid.,  p.  51. 

Var.  caudata.  Hooker.  —  Fronds  glabrous  on  both  sides,  or  even 
somewhat  glaucescent ;  pinnules  and  segments  very  narrow,  the  terminal 
ones  much  elongated. — Sp.  Fil.,  ii.,  p.  196. — Eatox,  in  Chapman's  Flo- 
ra, p.  589.  —  Ptcris  caudata,  Lixx.eus,  Sp.  PI.,  p.  1533.  —  Swartz,  Syn. 
Fil.,  p.  loi. — VVilldexow,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  401. — Agardh,  Recens.  Gen. 
Pterid.,  p.  48. — Grisebach,  Fl.  Brit.  W.  I.  p.  670.  —  Fee.,  iime  Mem, 
P-   23. 

Hab. — Very  common  on  sunny  hillsides,  and  in  thickets,  but  found 
also  in  prairies  and  even  in  wet  woods,  the  North  American  range  being 
from  Newfoundland  through  British  America  to  Sitka,  and  southward  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  It  is  the  most  widely  distributed  of  ferns,  and 
occurs,  in  one  form  or  another,  in   all   continents,  and   in  most  regions 


FERNS   OF   NORTH    AMERICA. 


265 


of  the  world.  Var.  lanuginosa  is  common  in  tiie  region  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  being  especially  luxuriant  in  Oregon  and  Washington 
Territory.  It  has  not  been  found  in  the  Atlantic  States,  but  is  known 
in  Europe,  Southern  Asia,  Africa,  etc.,  etc.  Var.  caudata,  a  West  Indian 
form,  is  not  rare  in  Florida,  and  has  been  collected  in  Southern  Alabama, 
and  perhaps  in  others  of  the  Gulf  States.  The  Australian  Var.  csculcnta, 
which  occurs  abundantly  in  South  America,  has  not  been  found  within 
our   limits. 


Description.  — The   bracken  has  a  subterranean   creeping 
root-stock,  often  much  elongated,  from  the  sides  of   wliich    the 
stalks   grow   alternately,  scattered   along   at   variable  distances, 
though  only  one  frond  is  produced  each   year.     The  root-stock 
is  about  three  or  four  lines  thick  (Moore  says  as  thick  as  one's 
little    finger),    the   outside   very   black   and    somewhat   veh'cty. 
The  upper  and  under  sides  are  rounded,  but  there  is  a  slightly 
prominent  rather   sharp   ridge,  running   along   each   side.     The 
transverse  section  is  very  interesting,  and  may  be  seen  figured, 
though  on  too  small  a  scale,  at  page  354  of   the  English   edi- 
tion of   Sach's  Text-Book  of  Botany.     Within  the  dark  exterior 
sheath   of   sclcrenchyma  may  be  seen    the   soft  whitish   paren- 
chymatous   mass,  containing   two   somewhat    flattish    bands   of 
very    firm   sclcrenchyma.     Between    these  are    two    flattish-oval 
fibro-vascular  bundles,  one  above  the   other,  while   around   the 
sclerenchyma-bands  arc  about  a  dozen  smaller  rounded  or  o\al 
fibro-vascular   threads   arranged   in   a   rude   circle.     The    stalks 
very  often  rise   from    short   lateral  branches  of   the    root-stock, 
rather  than  from  the  root-stock  itself.     These  branches  continue 


I 


-*  li 


266 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


1!  (. 


growing  year  after  year,  and  so  a  single  plant  may  in  time 
become  a  whole  colony.  CIosl  to  the  growing  end  of  the  root- 
stock  is  a  very  short  bud,  which  would  develop  into  a  stalk 
and  frond  in  two  years'  time:  a  short  distance  back  of  this  is 
a  bud  an  inch  or  two  long,  at  the  top  of  which  may  be  plainly 
seen  the  infolded  rudimentary  frond  for  the  next  year;  and 
bark  of  this  is  the  si  Ik  for  the  frond  of  the  present  year. 
^  ■•■.  ler  back  still  are  the  decaying  remains  of  the  stalks  which 
nan.:  i.apported  fronds  in  previous  seasons. 

The  stalks  have  the  portion  beneath  the  surface  of  the 
gr(u  :d  CiiiJerably  swollen,  and  blackened  like  the  root-stock. 
They  are  erect,  and  sometimes  attain  to  the  height  of  several 
feet  above  the  surface.  Their  color  is  commonly  a  dull 
reddish -brown,  sometimes  a  pale  straw-color.  The  surface  is 
devoid  of  chaff,  and  the  anterior  side  is  moderately  furrowed. 
A  cross  -  section  shows  a  central  mass  of  sclerenchyma,  in 
which  there  are  about  three  narrow  ridges  projecting  anteriorly 
and  two  posteriorly  from  a  transverse  band;  between  these 
ridges  are  oval  or  flattened  isolated  bands  of  fibro- vascular 
tissue,  and  numerous  smaller  threads  of  the  same  tissue  sur- 
round the  whole  central  mass.  This  is  the  structure  of  a  very 
young  stalk,  and  may  perhaps  vary  a  little  as  the  stalks  be- 
come mature.  The  whole  appearance  of  the  section  has  been 
likened  to  the  heraldic  "displayed  eagle;"  and  one  of  the 
common  names  as  well  as  the  specific  name,  has  reference  to 
this  resemblance.  But  it  is  also  said  that  King  Charles  in  the 
Oak  may  be  seen  in  the  stem  of  the  bracken. 


FERNS   OF    NORTH    AMERICA. 


267 


1    IB 


The  frond  is  broadly  ovate-triangular  in  outline,  the  breadth 
being  nearly   or  quite   equal   to  the   length.     The   size  varies 
much  according  to  soil,  climate,  etc. ;  so  that  while  plants  may 
be  mature,  and  yet  have  fronds  less  than  a  foot  high,  they  fre- 
quently arc  found  from  three  to  five  feet  high.     These  dimen- 
sions are  exceeded  in  Oregon,  where  the  bracken  forms  thickets 
six   or   seven    feet   high.     Hooker   and    Baker   report   that    Dr. 
Spruce  has  seen  it  fourteen  feet  high  in  the  Andes.     The  rachis 
of   the  frond  bends  away  abruptly  from  the   top  of  the   stalk, 
and  the  short  petioles  of  the  two   lowest   primary  pinncX   bend 
similarly,  but  in  other   directions.     The   effect   is   to   make  the 
frond  spread  obliquely  in  three  different  directions,  a  peculiarity 
which  is  lost  when  specimens  arc   pressed   for   the    herbarium. 
Very  large  fronds  are  fairly  tripinnate  at  the  base ;  smaller  ones 
only  bipinnate.     Above  the  base  of   the  frond  the  primary  pin- 
nae rapidly  become  smaller,  so  that  the  pinnse  of   the  fifth  pair 
are   about   the  same   size   and  degree  of    composition   as   the 
lowest  secondary  pinnae  of  the  lowest  primary  pinnre.     The  sec- 
ondary pinn<x  are  oblong  lanceolate,  nearly  sessile,  and  usually 
pinnatifid  almost   to   the   midrib   into    numerous   rather  obtuse 
oblong   segments,   besides  a   terminal    segment,  which    is  often 
much   longer   than   any   of   the   lateral   ones.      Sometimes   the 
side  lobes  are  reduced   to  a  single  basal  pair,  and  the  pinna  is 
then    hastate,  and   again   the   lobes  may   be   entirely  separated, 
and  thus  become  distinct   entire   pinnules.     The   ultimate   seg- 
ments,  or  lobes,  are  so  variable  in  length  and  breadth,  that   it 
is  not  easy  to  give  average   measurements.     But   it   may,  per- 


268 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


iiJ 


haps,  be  said  that  in  the  common  form  they  are  from  one- 
fourth  to  three -fourths  of  an  inch  long,  and  from  two  to  three 
lines  wide.  When  they  are  larger  than  this  they  arc  almost 
always  more  or  less  lobcd  at  the  base.  In  var.  caudata  entire 
pinnules  may  be  seen  over  an  inch  long,  and  less  than  one 
line  wide.  The  upper  surface  is  smooth;  the  lower  surface 
slightly  pubescent  in  the  plant  of  the  Northern  Atlantic  States, 
tomentose  in  the  plant  of  the  region  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  perfectly  smooth  in  the  variety  which  occurs  in  the  States 
bordering  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  frond  is  rigid  in  texture, 
and  though  it  turns  to  a  dingy  brown  in  autumn,  it  does  not 
wither  much  before  the  appearance  of  the  new  growth  of  the 
following  year. 

The  veins  a;  .  free,  and  forked  into  several  more  or 
less  curved  vcinlets,  which  arc  slightly  prominent  on  the  un- 
der surface,  and  marked  by  faint  depressions  on  the  upper. 

The  sporangia  are  seated  on  a  continuous  vein -like  mar- 
ginal receptacle,  and  are  covered  by  a  delicate  reflexcd  margi- 
nal involucre.  Very  often  there  is  a  second  involucre,  growing 
from  the  inney  side  of  the  receptacle,  differing  a  little  in  the 
shape  of  the  cellules  from  the  outer  involucre,  but  like  it  del- 
icately ciliated  with  simple  or  jointed  hairs.* 

The  genus  Pteris  consists  of   about   one   hundred   species, 

•  Dr.  Mettcnius,  in  his  paper  on  Pteris,  has  given  good  figures  and  descriptions  ot 
these  two  iiivolncros.  He  considers  the  outer  one  to  lie  tlic  margin  of  the  frond,  and  tlie 
inner  one  the  true  indusium.  Consult  also  Hooker,  in  his  Sjiecies  Filicnni,  vol.  II,  p.  195, 
and  compare  the  figures  in  the  first  plate  of  vol.  Ill,  of  the  same  work. 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


969 


of  which  rather  more  than  haU'  have  variously  reticulated  veins, 
and  arc  placed  in  sections  arranged  principally  according  to  the 
different  modes  of  this  reticulation.  Section  Etiptcns,  with 
free  veins  and  a  single  involucre,  consists  of  about  forty  species, 
and  is  represented  in  the  United  States  by  two  or  three  south- 
ern species.  Ptcris  oquilina,  with  a  few  related  species,  all 
with  free  veins,  a  creeping  root-stock,  and  a  double  involucre, 
forms  the  section  or  subgenus  Ptcsia.  Section  Hctcrophlebiiim, 
with  veins  anastomosing  only  near  the  margin,  consists  of  two 
South  American  species.  Camptcyia,  with  the  veins  of  the  next 
to  the  last  divisions  connected  by  arching  veinlets  at  the  base, 
has  half  a  dozen  species,  mostly  in  the  tropical  parts  of  the 
Old  World.  Doryoptct'is,  with  small  sagittate  or  pedate  fronds, 
and  copiously  reticulated  veins,  has  about  ten  species,  mostly 
in  Tropical  America,  one  of  which,  P.  pcdata,  was  wrongly  at- 
tributed by  Pursh  to  Virginia.  Litobyochia,  with  copiously 
anastomosing  veins,  and  fronds  otherwise  like  those  of  §  Enp- 
tcrls,  some  of  them  very  large  and  decompound,  has  abcut 
thirty  species  in  the  warmer  parts  of  both  hemispheres;  and 
Ampliiblcstra,  consisting  of  a  single  Venezuelan  fern,  has  co- 
piously anastomosing  veins  and  free  included  veinlets,  the  latter 
a  character  which  is  not  seen  in  the  other  sections  of  the  genus. 

The  bracken  is  a  familiar  plant  to  all  people  who  know 
anything  of  forest  or  field,  and  often  lends  its  name  to  any  large 
fern,  Osmundas  and  Aspidiums  being  perhaps  better  known  as 
brakes,  than  as  royal-ferns  and  shield-ferns. 

In  "The   Lady  of   the   Lake,"  when   the   Heir  of  Arman- 


d' 


ajo 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


dave  is  met  at  the  church-door,  and  the  fiery  cross  is  put  in- 
to his  hand,  to  bear  to  the  clansmen  of  Roderick  Dhu,  the  bride- 
groom leaves  his  bride,  and  begins  his  way  over  mountain 
and  moor  with  the  song;  — 

"The  heath  this  night  must  be  my  bed, 
The  bracken  curtain  for  my  head, 
My  hillaby  the  warder's  tread, 

Far,  far,  from  love  and  thee,  Mary." 

Plate  XXXV. — Ptcris  aquilina.  The  frond  chosen  is  a  small  one 
from  New  England.  At  the  left  is  part  of  a  frond  of  var.  cattdala  ;  at  the 
right,  the  under  side  of  a  pinnule  showing  the  fruit,  a  section  of  the 
lower  part  of  the  stalk,  and  a  section  of  the  fertile  pinnule,  the  latter 
much  enlarged. 


I 


7| 


m 


I    ^ 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


271 


Plate  XXXVI.— Fig.  1-3. 

ASPLENIUM  TRICHOMANES,  Linn^us. 

Maidenhair-Spleenwort. 

AsPLENiUM  Trichomanes:  — Root- Stock  short,  the  slender 
blackish  scales  having  a  strong  midncrve;  stalks  densely  clus- 
tered, one  to  five  inches  long,  nearly  black,  shining  and  very 
narrowly  margined,  as  is  the  rachis,  which  persists  after  the 
pinnae  arc  fallen;  fronds  two  to  eight  inches  long,  or  even 
longer,  narrowly  linear  in  outline,  rather  rigid,  evergreen,  pinnate ; 
pinn;e  numerous,  very  short -stalked,  roundish -oval  or  oval- 
oblong  from  an  obtusely  cuneate  or  truncate  base;  the  margin 
entire  or  crenulatc,  or  rarely  incised;  midvein  nearly  central; 
veins  few,  oblique,  usually  once  forked ;  sori  oblong,  commonly 
from  three  to  six  each  sitle  of  the  midvein,  but  in  large  forms 
more  numerous;  indusia  membranaceous,  entire  or  obscurely 
crenated,  rarely  toothed. 

Asplcnitim  Tyiclwmancs,  Linn.eus,  Mcrb.!;    Sp.  PI.,  p.   1540  (in  part). 

Hudson,  "Flora  Anglica,  cd.  i.  (1762),  p.  385."  — Miciiau.x,  FI. 
Bor.-Am.,  ii.,  p.  264.— Swartz,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  So.  — Sciikuiik, 
Krypt.  Gcw.,  p.  69,  t.  74. — Wiixdenow,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  331. — 
ToRREY,  I'l.  New  York,  ii.,  p.  49 1 .  —  Rupre ca r,  Distr.  Crypt.  Vase. 
in  Imp.  Ross.,  p.  44.  — Gray,  Manual.  — Newman,  Hist.  IJrit.  Ferns, 
cd.  iii.,  p.  249.— Moore,  Nat.  Pr.  lirit.  I-erns,  t.  .\.\xi.x.  — Meiten- 
lus,  Fil.  Hort.  Lips.,  p.  72;   Asplcnium,  p.  138.  — Heueler,  Aspl. 


iB!| 


'^r 


mm 


272 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA, 


I       1 

t 

P 


Sp.  Eur.,  p.  268.  —  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.  iii.,  p.  136  ;  Brit.  Ferns,  t.  29. 

— MiLDE,  Fil.  Eur.  et  Atl.,  p.  63.  —  Hooker&  Baker,  Syn.  Fil., 

p.  196. —  J.  D.  Hooker,  Syn.  Fl.  New  Zealand,  p.  371. —  McKen, 

F'erns  of  Natal,  p.  12.  —  Williamson,  Ferns  of  Kentucky,  p.  61, 

t.  xvi. 
Asplcniiim  mchmocaulon,  Willdenow,  "Enuni.  1072;"  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  332. — 

PuKsii,  Fl.  Am.  Sept.,  ii.,  p.  666. — Fournier,  PI.  Mex.,  Crypt.,  p.  104. 

{The  commoti  North  American plant^ 
Asplenium  castanaim,  Schlechtendal&Ciiamisso,  in  LinnEa,  v.,  p.  611. — 

Liebmann,  Mex.  Bregn.,  p.  88.  —  Mettenius,  Asplenium,  p.  137. 

—  Fournier,  PI.  Mex.,  Crypt.,  p.   104.     {A  very  large  Mexican 

form.) 
Asplenium  anccps,  Solander,  "in  Lowe,  Primitiae  Fauna;  et  Flor.  Mader,  p. 

8."  —  Hooker  &  Greville,  Ic.  Fil.,  t.  cxcv.     (yi  large  form  from 

Madeira,  the  Aaores,  elc.) 
Asplenium  densum,  Brackknriuge,  Fil.  U.  S.  Expl.  E.xped.,  p.  151,  t.  20. 

{A   rigid  and  contracted  form,  with  more   winged   rachis  and 

lacerated  indusia;  from  the  Hawaiian  Islands  and  Peru^ 
Var.  incisum,  Moore,  Nat.  Pr.  Brit.  Ferns,  t.  xxxix,  fig.  D  and  E. 
—  Pinnre  incisely  lobed,  the  lobes  often  creiiated  or  serrate.  —  Tricho- 
vianes  foliis  cleganter  incisis,  Tolrnefort,  "Instit.,  p.  539,  t.  315,  fig. 
C."  —  Asplenium  lyichomanes,  ,j.  Lixn.eus,  I.e.  —  Sciikuiir,  I.e.  t.  74,  fig. 
f. — Asplenium  Trichomanes,  var.  lohato-crcnatum,  DeCanuolle,  Mu.de, 
Fil.  Eur.  et  Atl,  p.  63.  (For  accounts  of  several  European  and  Atlantic 
varieties   see  Milde's  work  just  quoted.) 


Hah.  —  Crevices  of  shaded  rocks,  sometimes  on  old  walls  also. 
Common  in  North  America  from  Canada  to  British  Columbia,  and 
throughout  the  United  States  to  Alabama,  Texas,  Colorado,  California 
and   Oregon.     Also   in  Europe,  Asia,    South  Africa,    New   Zealand   and 


<^i< 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


273 


the  Hawaiian  Islands.  The  plant  of  Madeira,  the  Azores,  Bermuda,  the 
West  Indies,  Mexico  and  the  northern  parts  of  South  America,  is  chiefly 
the  large  form  called  Asplcnimn  anccps  by  Solander,  or  the  still  larger 
Asplenhnn  caslanaim  of  Schlechtendal  and  Chamisso.  Van  incisiim  has 
been  found  near  Brattleboro',  Vermont,  by  Mr.  C.  C.  Frost,  and  is  fre- 
quently collected  near  San  Diego,  California,  where  the  type  does  not 
seem  to  occur. 

Description. — The  maidenhair-spleenwort  loves  the  mossy 
crevices  of  a  shaded  chff,  and  vvill  cling  with  its  strong  rootlets 
so  closely  to  the  rock,  that  it  is  not  easy  to  take  the  plant 
uninjured  from  its  home.  The  root-stock  is  short,  and  covered 
with  fine  reddish-black  lance-acuminate  scales,  which  arc  com- 
posed of  oblong-quadrate  cells.  Each  scale  has  a  very  evident 
midnerve  of  firmer  tissue  than  the  rest  of  the  scale.  The 
fronds  spread  in  all  directions  from  the  root-stock,  but  are  very 
frequently  all  curved  slightly  to  one  side,  giving  the  whole 
cluster  a  spiral  appearance.  In  the  United  States  the  fronds 
are  usually  from  three  to  six  inches  long,  besides  the  stalk 
which  is  one-third  or  one-fourth  as  long  as  the  frond.  But 
in  the  islands  of  the  Atlantic  and  in  Tropical  America  a  plant 
is  found,  not  safely  separable  from  the  present,  which  has 
fronds  very  much  longer.  Some  very  fine  specimens,  collected 
in  Bermuda  by  Professor  G.  B.  Goode,  are  fully  fifteen  inclics 
high. 

The  stalks  are  nearly  black,  and  have  the  same  bright 
polish  which  we  see  in  tlie  maidenhair.  The  section  is  roundod 
at  the  back,  flat  or  slightly  furrowed  in  front,  and  shows  a  sv:- 


274 


FERNS   OF    NORTH   AMERICA. 


gle  fibro-vascular  bundle  in  the  middle.  The  rachis  is  black  like 
the  stalk,  and  persists  long  after  the  pinnules  have  fallen  off. 
The  fronds  are  narrOwly  linear  in  outline,  evergreen,  and 
bear  a  great  number  of  little  pinnae,  which  are  articulated  to 
the  rachis,  and  leave  *a  scar  when  they  drop  off,  as  they  do 
about  a  year  after  the  frond  is  produced.  The  pinnae  are 
smooth,  dark-green  above,  a  little  paler  beneath,  and  vary 
much  in  shape.  On  small  fronds  they  are  roundish-obovate, 
and  scarcely  a  line  long;  in  larger  fronds  they  are  oblong-oval, 
four  or  five  lines  long,  and  have  the  base  broader  on  the  up- 
per side  than  on  the  lower.  The  margin  is  either  entier, 
or  crenulatc,  or  toothed,  or  in  var.  incisum  incised  with  toothed 
lobes.  The  sori  are  usually  few  in  number,  borne  on  the 
upper  side  of  the  mostly  once-forked  veins,  oblong  in  shape, 
and  covered  by  a  delicate  indusium  composed  of  very  tor- 
tuous cells  and  having  commonly  a  slightly  crenulatc  margin. 
The  sporangia  have  a  ring  of  about  seventeen  joints,  and  the 
spores  arc  ovoid  and  roughened  with  irregular  anastomosing 
winged  ridges. 

Plate  XXXVI.,  Figs.  1-3. — Asplcniiim  Tricliomancs.  Fig.  i  is  the 
common  form ;  the  specimen  drawn  is  from  Connecticut.  Fig.  2  is  a 
fruiting  pinna,  enlarged.  Fig.  3. — A  sterile  frond  of  var.  incisum,  from 
Vermont.  The  San  Diego  plant  has  slightly  larger  fronds,  and  pinnae 
somewhat  less  incised. 


W-\ 


FERNS   OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


275 


;i 


Plate  XXXVI.  — Fk;.  4. 

ASPLENIUM  VIRIDE  Hudson. 

Green  Spleenwort. 

AsPLENiuM  VIRIDE :  — Root-stock  short,  creeping,  entangled 
and  forming  large  tufts;  the  scales  blackish  and  without  a 
midnerve;  stalks  brownish  at  the  base,  becoming  greenish 
higher  up  and  passing  into  a  green  herbaceous  rachis;  fronds 
two  to  five  inches  long,  linear-lanceolate,  softly  herbaceous, 
bright-green,  pinnate;  pinnae  numerous,  short-stalked,  roundish- 
ovate  or  ovate-rhomboid,  more  or  less  cuneate  at  the  base, 
crenated;  midvein  indistinct  and  passing  into  the  simple  or 
forked  veinlets;  sori  few,  remote  from  the  margin;  indusia 
very  delicate,  entire  or  denticulate. 

Asplenium  viridc,  Hudson,  "F1.  Anglica,  ed.  i.  (1762),  p.  3S5."  — Swaktz, 
Syn.  Fii.,  p.  80.  — SciiKUHR,  Knpt.  Gcw.,  p.  68,  t.  73.— Will- 
DENow,  Sp.  PI.,  v.,  p.  332.  — Hooker,  F1.  Ror.-Am.,  ii.,  p.  262.— 
Newman,  Hist.  Brit.  Ferns,  ed.  iii,  p.  243.  — Kocir,  .Syn.  Fl. 
Germ,  et  Helv.,  ed.  iii.,  p.  73;. —  Moore,  Nat.  Pr.  Brit.  Ferns, 
t.  xL  — MErrENius,  Fil.  Hort.  Fips.,  p.  72;    .Asplenium,  p.    139. 

—  Heufler,   Aspl.  Sp.    Fur.,   p.    255.  — Hooker,   .Sp.    Fil.,   iii., 
p.    144;    Prit.   Ferns,    t.    30.  — Mii.de,  Fil.  Fur.  et  Atl.,  p.  60. 

—  Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  195.— L.uvsox,  in  Cinid.  Nat- 
uralist, i.,  p.  275. 

Asplcnhim  Trichomancs,  Linn.eus,  .Sp.  PI.,  p.  1540  {The  Upland  plants 


<        i 


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ii 


2  76 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


Asplcnium  inhrincdium,  Presi,,  "Uclic.  Prag.  i.,  p.  223  ;   Tent.  Pterid.,  p. 
108,  t.  iii,  f.  22. 

• 

Had.  —  On  shatlcd  rocks,  from  New  Brunswick  and  nortlicrn  New 
England  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  British  Columbia.  In  Canida  it 
has  been  found  at  Gaspc  by  Mr.  John  Bull,  near  Tadousac  and  at  the 
falls  of  Riviere  du  Loup  by  Mr.  Watf,  and  in  fissures  of  calcareous 
rocks  at  Owen  Sound,  by  Mrs.  Roy.  Mr.  C.  G.  Pringle  has  detected  it 
in  the  mountains  of  Vermont;  it  was  collected  long  ago  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains  by  Dkummond,  and  again,  in  1858,  by  Bourgeau.  Dr.  Lyall 
found  it  at  Fort  Colville,  and  Milde  states  that  he  has  seen  a  dwarfed 
specimen  from  Sitka,  collected  by  Eschsciioltz.  It  is  found  in  Europe, 
mostly  in  mountainous  regions,  from  Lapland  to  Spain,  Italy  and  the 
Caucasus,  and  has  been  collected  also  in  Eastern  Siberia. 

Description. — The  green  splcenwort  is  not  unlike  the 
maidonhair-splccnwort  in  general  appearance,  and  was  confused 
with  it  by  Linnicus.  The  plant,  when  it  finds  a  station  exactly 
suitable  to  its  best  development,  forms  a  great  bed  of  matted 
root-stocks,  as  it  does,  for  instance,  on  a  shaded  cliff  on  a 
hill  near  Interlaken,  in  Switzerland.  The  root-stocks  are  scaly 
with  narrow  slender-pointed  scales,  which  are  composed  of 
oblong-quadrate  cellules  throughout,  and  have  no  midnerve,  or 
at  most  the  merest  rudiment  of  one.  The  fronds  are  more 
erect  than  those  of  A.  Trichomancs,  but  do  sometimes  exhibit 
the  same  tendency  to  a  spiral  arrangement.  The  stalks  are 
bright-brown  at  the  base,  but  a  little  higher  up  the  color  passes 
first  into  stramineous  and  then  into  green,  which  is  the  color 
of  the  rachis.     The  stalk  lacks  the  narrow  margins  of  A.   Tri- 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


277 


cJiomancs,  and  the  single  fibro-vascular  bundle  has  a  slightly 
different  structure.  The  fronds  are  linear-lanceolate,  rather  than 
linear,  and  end  in  a  longer  toothed  or  pinnatifid  apex.  The 
pinnae  do  not  fall  away  from  the  rachis,  but  when  they  wither 
the  rachis  withers  also.  Though  the  fronds  are  evergreen,  sur- 
viving the  winter,  they  are  delicately  herbaceous  in  texture,  and 
the  color  is  a  pale  though  clear  shade  of  green.  The  numerous 
pinn^-e  vary  in  shape  from  nearly  round  to  rhomboid-ovate,  the 
lower  ones  being  commonly  shorter,  rounder  and  more  distant, 
than  those  in  the  middle  of  the  frond.  The  base  is  more 
or  less  wedge-shaped.  The  outer  margins  are  crenated,  or  even 
inciscly  crenate.  In  different  specimens  the  pinnae  vary  in  length 
from  a  line  and  a  half  to  three  or  even  four  lines. 

The  midvein  bears  a  few  veinlets  on  each  side;  the  low- 
est veinlcts  are  forked,  sometimes  twice  forked;  the  upper 
ones  are  simple,  the  midvein  itself  being  as  slender  as  the 
veinlets,  and,  like  them,  stopping  short  of  the  margin  of  the 
pinna. 

The  sori  are  few,  and  are  placed  low  down  on  the  upper 
side  of  ihe  veinlets,  so  as  to  be  much  nearer  the  midv^cin  than 
the  margin.  The  indusium  is  very  delicate,  and  has  its  free 
edge  either  entire  or  toothed.  The  sporangia  have  a  ring  of 
sixteen  or  seventeen  joints.  The  spores  are  ovoid  or  roundish, 
margined  by  a  very  broad  wing,  and  covered  with  irregularly 
reticulated  ridges. 

The  green  rachis  will  at  once  distinguish  this  plant  from 
A.   Trichomancs ;  but  there  are   several  little   Asplenia   in  the 


I 


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378 


FERNS   OF    NORTH   AMERICA. 


mf 


Southern  Hemisphere  to  which  it  is  more  closely  related,  and 
from  some  of  these  it  would  not  be  so  easy  to  distinguish  it. 
yf.  Kraussii,  from  Natal  Colony,  is  perhaps  the  most  closely 
allied,  but  the  pinn.ne  are  more  one-sided,  and  are  sharply 
toothed  only  on  the  upper  margin,  the  lower  being  entire.  A 
Quitcnsc  of  Hooker  (Second  Century  of  Ferns,  t.  xx)  is  also 
much  like  A.  vincfc,  but  has  an  elongated  slender  creeping 
root-stock,  a  narrowly  winged  rachis,  and  some  other  differences. 
A.  fragile,  from  Peru  and  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  and  A.  fla- 
bcUifolium,  from  Australia  and  New  Zealand,  are  also  nearly 
related  to  the  fern  here  described. 

There  is  in  Silesia  and  Bohemia  a  fern  almost  exactly  in- 
termediate between  this  species  and  A.  Tricliomanes,  the  A. 
oditltcyhinm  of  Milde.  It  has  the  thinner  pinnules  and  the 
wingless  rachis  of  A.  viridc,  but  in  the  color  of  the  stalk  and 
lower  part  of  the  rachis,  as  well  as  in  the  position  of  the  sori, 
it  is  like  A.  Tricliomaucs.  Milde  believed  it  to  be  certainly 
a  hybrid,  but  German  botanists  now  regard  it  as  a  distinct 
species.     It  is  said  never  to  grow  in   companv  with  A.  viride. 


Plate  XXXV'I.,  Fig.  4,  is  drawn  from  a  plant  of  Asp/cnium  viride 
collected  in  Royston  Park,  Owen  Sound,  Ontario,  Canada,  by  Mrs.  Roy. 
European  specimens  are  sometimes  considerably  larger. 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


379 


Plate  XXXVI.  — Figs.  5,  6. 

ASPLENIUM  PARVULUM,  Mart.&Gal. 

Little  Ebony-Spleenwort. 

AsPLENiuM  parvulum:  — R(x)t-stock  short,  creeping;  the 
scales  nearly  black,  very  opatiue  and  rigid;  stalks  short,  black 
and  shining  like  the  rachis;  fronds  erect,  rigid,  four  to  ten 
inches  high,  narrowly  linear-oblanceolate,  pinnate;  pinnae  num- 
erous, rigid-chartaceous,  mostly  opposite  in  pairs,  nearly  sessile, 
more  or  less  deflexed,  two  to  six  lines  long,  oblong,  obtuse, 
entire  or  crcnulate,  auricled  on  the  upper  side  of  the  base,  the 
lower  ones  auricled  on  both  sides,  gradually  shorter,  and  more 
deflexed;  sori  oblong,  midway  between  the  midrib  and  the 
margin. 

Asplcnium  parvidiwi.  Martens  &  Galeoiti,  Syn.   Fil.  Mex.,  p.  60,  t.   15, 

f.  3.  — Fee,  Gon.  Fil.,  p.   192;  Cat.  Fil.    Mex.,  p.   15.  — Eaton, 

Ferns  of  the  South-west,  ined. 
Asplenium  rcsiliens,  Kunze,  in  Linn^ea,  xviii.,  p.  331.— Liebmann,  Mex. 

Brcgn.,  p.  88.— FouKNiEU,  PI.  Mex.,  Crypt.,  p.   103. 
Asplenium  tricliomanoides,  Kunze,  in  .Silliman's   Journal,   July,    1848,    p. 

85.  —  Meitenius,    Asplenium,  p.    137    (not   of  Michaux,  which 

is  A.  cbcnciuii). 
Asplctiium  cbcncum,  var.  viiuus,  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  ill.,  p.  139. 
Asplenium  cheneum,  Eaton,  in  Botany  of  Mexican  Boundary,  p.  235, 


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FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


Hah.  —  On  shaded  rocks,  generally  limestone.  Northern  Alabama, 
Hon.  T.  M.  Pktkrs;  Lookout  Mountain,  Tennessee,  and  in  Georgia,  Dr. 
Chapman;  Arkansas,  Prof.  F.  L.  Harvey;  Great  Canon  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  Dr.  Paury;  Texas,  E.  Hall.  Kunze  gives  Georgia  and  Ten- 
nessee, collected  by  Beyrich,  and  about  Dandridge,  Tennessee,  Rugel. 
It  is  found  also  in  several  parts  of  Mexico,  extending  as  far  south  as 
Chiapas.  Fournier  considers  the  Hawaiian  A.  dcnsum  of  Brackenridge 
to  be  the  same  thing,  in  which  he  is  surely  wrong,  and  gives  also  Japan, 
I  know  not  on  what  authority. 

Description. — This  has  certainly  a  very  close  resemblance 
to  A.  cbcneum,  of  which  Hooker  considered  it  a  variety,  and 
to  which  I  once  referred  a  specimen  from  the  Rio  Grande. 
The  outline  of  the  frond  is  similar,  and  the  pinnae  have  much 
the  same  shape.  The  present  plant  is,  however,  uniformly 
smaller,  more  rigid,  and  with  pinnre  of  thicker  texture.  The 
pinnae  a're  almost  always  opposite,  while  in  ^.  ebcnctim  they 
are  as  uniformly  alternate.  Here  they  are  entire,  or  nearly  so, 
while  there  they  are  usually  serrate.  The  scales  of  the  root- 
stock  in  the  present  species  consist  mainly  of  a  very  heavy,  far 
excurrent,  black  midnervc,  while  in  the  other  they  have  no  mid- 
nerve  at  all,  and  consist  wholly  of  lattice-like  cellules.  The 
pinnae  of  A.  parvulum  are  more  deflexed,  a  character  which 
shows  most  plainly  in  the  Mexican  specimens. 

Plate  XXXVI.,  Figs.  5,  6.  Asplcniuvi  parvulum.  Fig.  5  is  a  plant 
from  Northern  Alabama,  collected  by  Hon.T.  M.  Peters.  Fig.  6  is  a 
pinna,  enlarged  and  showing  the  veins  and  the  sori. 


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FERNS   OF    NORTH    AMERICA. 


381 


Plate  XXXVII. 

ADIANTUM  CAt'ILLUS-VENERIS,  Linn^us. 

Venus-Hair.     Maiden-Hair. 

Adiamtum  Capillus- Veneris  :— Root-stock  creeping,  scaly  ; 
stalks  crowded,  a  few  inches  to  a  foot  long,  very  slender,  black 
and  shining,  as  are  the  rachis  and  ail  its  divisions;  fronds  a 
span  to  a  foot  and  a  half  long,  often  pendent,  ovate  or  ovate- 
lanceolate  in  outline,  delicately  membranaceous,  smooth,  si«iply 
pinnate  towards  the  apex,  below  twice  or  even  thrice  pinnate; 
pinnules  and  upper  pinna?  six  to  twelve  lines  long,  wedge- 
obovate  or  somewhat  rhomboid,  rather  long-stalked,  the  sides 
straight  or  slightly  concave,  the  upper  margin  often  deeply  and 
irregularly  incised;  the  ends  of  the  lobes  crenate  or  acutely 
denticulate,  except  where  the  margin  is  recurved  to  form  the 
lunulate  or  transversely  oblong  separated  involucres. 

Adiantum   Capillus- Veneris,    Linn^us,    Sp.    PI.,  p.    1558. — Swartz,  Syn, 

HI.,    p.     124.  — WlU.DENOW,    Sj).    PI.,     v.,     p.     449.— MOOKKR,     Sp. 

I'll.,  ii.,  p.  36,  t.  Ix.xiv,  B;  Hriiish  Perns,  t.  41.  — Mookk,  Nat. 
Pr.  Frit.  Ferns,  t.  .\lv;  Index  I'll.,  p.  20.  —  Kocii,  .Syn.  FI. 
Germ,  et  Ilelv.,  ed.  iii.,  p.  738.-— P:aton,  in  Hot.  .Mex.  Bound. 
Survey,  p.  233;  Chapman's  Horn,  p.  591.  — Gkisi-hacii,  F1.  15rit. 
W.  Indies,  p.  666.  — Hooker iS:  15aki:k,  Syn.  Fii.,  p.  I23.~.Mii.i)e, 
Fil.  Eu.  et  Atiant.,  p.  30.  — McKen,  Ferns  of  Naial,  p.  5.— 
Beddome,    Ferns   of  Southern    India,   p.  2,  t.  iv.— Kkyseri.inc, 


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382 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


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Gen.  Adiantum,  in    Mem.  Acad.   Petrop.,  ser.  vii.,  xxii.,  No.  2, 

P-   '5>  M- — Benthan,  Fl.  Austral.,  vii.,  p.  723. 
Adiantum    Capil/iis,  .Swartz,  "in   Schraders  Journal,  ii.   (1800),  p.  83." 

—  Link,  Fil.  Hort.  Berol.,  p.  70.  —  Kunze,  in  Linnrea,  x.,  p.  500; 

x.xiii.,  p.  2i5;xxiv.;  p.  273;    Silliman's  Journal,  July,  1848,  p.   87. 
Adiantum   cmarginatmn,   Horv,   in   Willdenow,   Sp.    PL,  v.   p.    449    (not 

of  Hooker,  Sp.   MI.,  ii.,   t.  Ixxv,  A). 
Adiatttum   Moritzianum,  Link,  Fil.   Hort.  Berol.,  p.  71. 
Adiantum  dependens.   Chapman,   MS. 

Had.  —  In  moist  rocky  places,  especially  about  springs  and  along 
water -courses ;  from  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  to  Florida,  Alabama. 
Te.xas*,  Arkansas,  Utah,  Arizona  and  the  .southern  part  of  California.  Mex- 
ico to  Venezuela,  West  Indies,  Azores,  Madeira,  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  Aus- 
tralia and  Polynesia.  Near  Wilmington,  where  it  was  collected  by  Mr.  W. 
M.  Cani!Y  on  the  banks  of  the  Cape  Fear  River,  and  aljout  Santa  Barbara, 
where  it  seems  to  be  abundant  in  the  canons  of  the  Coast  Range,  it 
passes  a  little  to  the  north  of  the  thirty-fourth  degree  of  North  Latitude, 
but  in  North  Western  Arkansas,  where  Prof.  F.  L.  Hauvev  found  it 
growing  luxuriantly  in  the  crevices  of  sandstone  rocks  which  border  tht; 
White  River,  it  passes  fairly  above  the  thirty-sixth  degree. 

Description.  —Root-stock  creeping,  rather  short,  not  thicker 
than  a  crow-quill,  scaly.  The  scales,  which  are  found  also  on 
the  very  lowest  part  of  the  stalk  are  small,  narrowly  lanceolate, 
slender-pointed  and  entire.  They  are  dull-brown  in  color,  and 
are  composed  of  irregularly  elongated  cells.  The  stalks  are 
from  a  few  inches  to  a  foot  high,  very  slender,  nearly  black  on 
the  back,  dark  vinous-red  on  the  front,  and  \ery  highly  pol- 
ished.    Under  a  strong  lens  they  are  seen  to  be  finely  striated 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


283 


longitudinally.  The  .section  shows  within  an  exterior  of  thick- 
walled  cells  a  pale  parenchyma  containing-  two  slender  fibro- 
vascular  bundles,  which  are  considerably  separated  at  the  base, 
but  gradually  approach  each  other  higher  up,  and  unite  near 
the  top  of  the  stalk.  The  rachises  and  the  stalks  of  the  pin- 
nules are  almost  as  slender  as  hairs,  and  have  the  same  dark 
color  and  brilliant  lustre  as  the  stalk. 

This  fern,  whenever  it  grows  luxuriantly,  is  more   or  less 
pendent  in  habit,  but  plants  of  moderate    size   commonly  have 
the  fronds   erect   or   but  slightly    recurved.     One   of   Professor 
Harvey's    fine   specimens    has    a   frond    seventeen    inches    long, 
but  usuJly  the  fronds  are  scarcely  half  as  long  as  this.     They 
vary  in  shape  from  triangular-ovate  to  ovate-lanceolate,  and  in 
composition    from    simply   pinnate   with    a    scantily   bipinnate 
base,   to   fully  tripinnate,    for   the    lower    half   of   the   frond   at 
least.     The   pinna;   and   pinnules    are   alternate,  and    the    lower 
ones   rather  distant,  the    upper    more   crowded.     The   pinnules 
are  from  four   lines  to  an  inch   long,  and   are    in   general   fan- 
shaped,  sometimes  with  a  very  acute   base,   sometimes  with   a 
truncate    base.     They  are    now  narrowly  obovate-wedge-shaped, 
and  now  decidedly  rhomboid,  and  again  almost    round,  but   al- 
ways distinct  from  each  other,  and  supported  on  capillary  foot- 
stalks from  one  to   four   lines    long.     The    lower   sides   of  the 
pinnules    arc   entire,   and    usually   slightly   concave;    the    upper 
or  outer   margin   is    more   or    less   incised    or    lobed,    and    the 
lobes,  in    American    plants,  usually  denticulate,  sometimes  very 
sharply   so.      European    and    East    American    specimens    have 


»l 


.  W.I 


284 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


these  teeth  not  very  well  developed;  but  the  plant  of  Utah 
and  California  has  very  sharp  teeth,  the  veinlcts  running  to 
the  points  of  the  teeth.  The  degree  of  incision  varies  very 
much,  and  a  plant  incised  but  little  more  than  that  which  is 
shown  in  the  middle  of  our  plate  was  figured  in  Species  Fili- 
cum  as  "van  ,*  pinnis  profunde  incisis." 

In  fertile  fronds  the  teeth  cither  disappear,  or  are  seen 
only  on  the  upper  part  of  the  sides  of  the  lobes,  and  the  ends 
of  the  lobes  are  occupied  by  the  lunate  or  transversely  oblong 
involucres.  The  spores  are  smooth,  globose-tetrahedral,  and  faint- 
ly marked  with  three  radiating  vittae.  The  veins  are  free,  and 
flabellately  forked  from  the  base  of  the  pinnules. 

The  group  of  Adianttim,  to  which  this  species  belongs,  is 
characterized  by  having  ovate-pyramidal  fronds  (at  least  bipin- 
nate)  fan-shaped  pinnules,  and  forking  veinlets  with  no  midvein. 
It  includes  over  a  dozen  species,  which  are  not  always  easy  to 
be  distinguished  from  each  other. 

Plate  XXXVII.  —  Aciianlum  Capillus-Vaieris.  The  colored  plant  in 
the  middle  of  the  plate  was  collected  by  Mrs.  Stanley  Bagg  near  Santa 
Barbara,  California,  and  represents  a  form  with  few  very  large  and  deep- 
ly incised  pinnules.  The  frond  drawn  in  outline  is  from  the  White 
River,  Arkansas,  and  was  collected  specially  for  this  plate  l)y  Professor 
F.  L.  Harvey.     The   details  are  a  fruiting   pinna,  slightly  enlarged,  the 

end  of  one  lol^e  magnified,  and  a  spore  highly  magnified. 

,*,  .Since  these  p;i}j;es  were  stereotyped  I  li.nve  learned  that  this  species  and  Asple- 
nium  parvtiluni  have  heen  tbund  in  Greene  County,  Missomi,  hy  Mr.  K.  M.  Siiepakd. 


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FERNS    OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


28s 


Plate  XXXVIII.  — Fig.  1-3. 

ADIANTUM  EMARGINATUM,  Hooker. 

Californian  Maiden-Hair. 

Adiantum  EMARGINATUM  :  —  Root-stock  Creeping,  scaly  ; 
stalks  clustered,  a  few  inches  to  a  foot  long,  wiry,  dark  and 
shining,  like  the  rachis  and  branchlets;  fronds  six  to  twelve 
inches  long,  mostly  erect,  broadly  ovate  or  deltoid-pyramidal, 
twice  or  thrice  pinnate  at  the  base,  simpler  upwards;  pinna^ 
obliquely  spreading,,  lower  ones  half  as  long  as  the  frond;  pin- 
nules long-stalked,  four  to  fifteen  lines  broad,  roundish  or  semi- 
circular, or  even  somewhat  reniform.  lower  sides  entire;  outer 
edge  rounded,  slightly  two  to  five-lobed,  finely  and  sharply 
toothed  in  the  sterile  fronds,  but  in  the  fertile  recurved  to 
form  pale  transversely  elongated  involucres;  veins  flabellately 
forking,  the  veinlets  extending  to  the  ends  of  the  teeth. 

Adiantum  cmarghiatuvi.  Hooker.  Sp.  Fil.,  ii.,  t.  Ixxv.,  A,  not  of  Bory 
and  Wiildenow.  — Keyserling,  Gen.  Adiantum,  in  Mem.  Acad. 
Petrop.,  sen  vii.,  xxii.,  No.  2,  p.  15,  37.  — Eaton,  Ferns  of  the 
South-West,  ined. 

Adiantum  Chilcnsc,  Tourey,  in  Pacif.  R.  R.  Survey,  iv.,  p.  160,  vii.,  p. 
21.  — Brackenkidge,  Ferns  of  U.  S.  Ex.  Expcd.,  p.  97.— 
E.woN,  in  Botany  of  the  Mexican  Boundary,  p.  233,  and  in 
Robinson's  Catalogue,  not  of  Kaulfuss. 


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286 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


Adiantum  teneyum,  Tokkev,  in  Emory's  Notes  of  a  Military  Rccon- 
noissance  from  Fort  Lcavcnwortli  to  San  Diego,  p.  155.  —  Ni;w- 
BERRY,  in  Pacif.  R.  R.  Survey,  vi.,  p.  93,  not  of  Swartz  and 
VVilldcnow. 

.Uiianlum  ^Ethiopium,  Rakick,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  123,  as  to  the  Californian 
plant  only. 

Hab. — Among  rocks,  and  in  cafions,  both  moist  and  dry;  from 
San  Diego,  California,  to  Oregon,  not  rare  in  the  Coast  Ranges,  but 
apparently  unknown  east  of  them. 

Description. — This  species  belongs  to  the  same  group 
as  the  Venus-Hair,  but  is  easily  distinguished  from  it  by  the 
much  broader  and  less  deeply  lobed  pinnules  and  by  the  trans- 
versely elongated  involucres.  The  root-stock  is  rather  slender, 
creeping,  and  chaffy  with  amber-brown  entire  lanceolate-acuminate 
scales.  The  stalks  are  several  from  one  root-stock.  They  are 
a  little  stouter  than  in  the  Venus-Hair,  but  have  the  same 
brilliant  lustre.  They  are  nearly  black  on  the  back,  and  a 
dark  mahogany  red  in  front.  The  vascular  bundle  is  single 
to  the  very  base  in  the  specimen  examined,  and  is  somewhat 
V-shaped.  The  stalks  arc  from  six  inches  to  a  foot  long, 
and  support  a  frond  of  about  the  same  length.  The  fronds 
are  nearly  or  quite  half  as  wide  at  the  base  as  they  are 
long,  and  are  oftenest  exactly  ovate-triangular  in  outline. 
The  largest  fronds  are  tripinnate  in  the  lower  part,  bipinnate 
in  the  middle,  and  simply  pinnate  towards  the  apex,  where 
also  the  pinn:e  often  overlap   each   other   a   little.     The  pin- 


!■;.'! 


FERNS   OF    NORTH    AMERICA. 


287 


nules  are  papcry-membranaccous  in  texture,  clear-green  above, 
slightly  paler  beneath,  bearing  a  few  scattered  hairs  along 
the  veins  when  young,  but  soon  ([uite  smooth.  The  pin- 
nules are  sometimes  roundish,  but  more  frequently  broader 
than  long,  so  as  to  be  semicircular  or  even  slightly  rcniform. 
They  are  commonly  cither  truncate  at  the  base,  or  broadly 
wedge-shaped,  and  have  slender  footstalks  from  two  to  five 
lines  long.  In  sterile  fronds  the  outer  margin  is  finely  and 
sharply  toothed,  the  vcinlets  running  out  into  the  points  of 
the  teeth,  and  even  a  little  beyond  the  points,  so  as  to  make 
them  slightly  aculeate.  The  margin  is  also  slightly  notched 
in  from  one  to  four  or  even  more  places.  In  fertile  fronds  the 
teeth  are  formed  only  at  the  extreme  sides  of  the  pinnules,  and 
the  margin  of  the  lobes  is  recurved,  forming  palish  elongated 
involucres,  which  are  perfectly  smooth.^  The  veins  are  flabel- 
lately  forked  from  the  end  of  the  footstalk,  and  are  slightly 
prominent  on  both  surfaces.  The  sporangia  have  a  ring  of 
seventeen  or  eighteen  articulations.  The  spores  are  tetrahe- 
dral  with  rounded  angles  and  slightly  concave  sides.  They 
have  a  minutely  roughened  surface,  and  have  the  three  vitta^ 
of  the  genus. 

This  species  was  formerly  confused  with  Adiaiititm  Chi- 
Icnsc,  which  it   considerably  resembles,  but    that    species    has 


.iSiii 


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f'  '■; 


I  Kcysciling  says  tlicii;  arc  t\vi>  iiivoliicit'S  dm  llie  upper  piumilcs,  and  lour  on  tliu 
lower  ones ;  but  the  upper  pinnules  often  have  four,  and  the  lower  ones  rarely  as  many  as 
eight.  Usually  the  middle  notch  is  deepest,  so  that  although  the  name  emar^liiatum  was 
not  originally  intended  for  this  fern.it  is  not  so  unsuitable  that  we  must  reject  it. 


ii?i 


388 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


rounded-reniform  involucres,  and  the  veinlcts  run  to  the 
notches  between  the  teeth,  not  to  the  teeth  themselves.  The 
A.  cmarginatum  of  Bory,  from  Mauritius,  is  now  ascertained 
to  be  a  form  of  A.  Capillns-Vcncris.  Hooker's  figure  in 
Species  Filicum,  though  taken  from  a  specimen  in  his  her- 
barium, marked  "  Malacca,  Griffith,"  resembles  no  known  Ad- 
ionium  of  either  Malacca  or  Mauritius.  It  is  on  the  same 
sheet  with  one  much  more  like  A.  Capilhis-Vcneyis,  which  is 
marked  as  coming  from  Delessert's  herbarium,  anfl  as  col- 
lected in  the  Mauritius.  It  is  possible  that  the  labels  have 
been  interchanged,  an  accident  which  happens  sometimes  in 
every  herbarium.  Knyserling  conjectures  that  the  specimen 
figured  came  from  California,  by  way  of  Delessert's  collection  ; 
and  as  it  is  exactly  our  plant,  the  conjecture  is  probably 
correct.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  Hooker's  herbarium 
is  a  specimen  from  California,  collected  by  Dr.  Hillebrand, 
marked  by  Sir  \V.  J.  Hooker's  own  hand;  — "^rt'.  Cap.-Ven. 
— same  form  as  Ad.  cmarginatum,  Bory  in  Hk.  Sp.  Fil.  t.  75." 

Plate  XXXVIII.  —  Fig.  1-3.  Adiantum  c marginatum.  Fig.  i  is 
a  frond  with  unusually  large  pinnules,  collected  near  Ukiah,  California, 
by  Dr.  Kellogg.  Fig.  2  represents  two  sterile  pinnules  of  a  smaller 
specimen.     Fig.  3  is  a  spore,  highly  magnified. 


I 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


•89 


Platr  XXXVIII.— Fig.  4-8. 

VITTARIA  LI  NEAT  A,  Swartz. 

Ribbon-Fern.    Fillet-Fern. 

ViTTARiA  lineata:  —  Root-stock  short,  creeping,  densely 
covered  with  lanceolate-acuminate  fuscous-brown  scales;  fronds 
clustered,  almost  .sessile,  pendent,  very  narrowly  linear,  not  two 
lines  wide,  but  from  one  to  three  feet  long,  tapering  to  both 
base  and  apex,  smooth  and  rather  fleshy  in  the  living  plant, 
subcoriaceous  and  longitudinally  furrowed  when  tiry;  veins 
consisting  of  a  midvein  hidden  in  the  frond,  and  two  parallel 
intramarginal  fertile  veins,  connected  with  the  midvein  by  very 
short  oblique  distant  veinlets;  sori  nearly  as  long  as  the  frond, 
sunken  into  deep  intramarginal  furrows;  sporangia  mixed  with 
abundant  contorted  ribbon-like  filaments;  spores  smooth,  ovoid- 
reniform. 

Vittaria  lineata,  Swartz,  in  Schraders  Journal  (1800)  ii.,  p.  72; 
Syn.  Fil.,  p.  109.  —  Sciikuhr,  Krypt.  Gcw.,  p.  93,  t.  loi,  b. — 
— WiLLDiAow,  Sp.  Pi.,  v.,  p.  404.  — PuKsii,  Fl.  Am.  Sept.,  ii., 
p.  669.  — Fee,  3me  Mem.,  p.  17.  — Eaton,  in  Chapman's  Flora, 
p.  589.  — HooKEK,  Sp.  Fil.,  v.,  p.  180.— Grisebacii,  F1.  Brit. 
W.  I.  Islands,  p.  671. —  FouKNiER,  PI.  INIex.,  Crypt.,  p.  114. — 
Garbek,  in  Rotan.  Gazette,  iii.,  10,  p.  83. 

Vittaria  august  if mns,  Michaux,  Fi.  Bor.-.^m.,  ii.,  p.  261. 

Vittaria  Schkuhrii,  Raddi,  Fil.  Brasil.,  p.    51. 


'■! 
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1, 


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FERNS   OF    NORTH    AMERICA. 


1 


Ta'ttiopsis  lincata,  J.  Smitli,  "  in   Hooker's  Journ.  Bot.,  iv.,  p.  67." 

Ptcris  lincata,  Linn.eus,  Sp.  PI.,  p.   1530. 

Lingua   Co-viua  longissimis  &  angustiisimis  foliis,   Pi.umiek,   Fil.    Am., 

p.    123,    t.    143. 
Pkyllitis  lincata,  graminis folio  longisiimo,  Petiver,  "Fil.,  p.    126,  t.   14, 

f-   3." 

Har.  —  In  large  tufts  on  the  trunks  of  the  Cabbage  Palmetto,  ap- 
parently not  uncommon  in  the  ^.outl.crn  part  of  Florida.  It  was  first 
observed  in  Florida  by  MiciiAUX,  who  found  it  on  the  banks  of  a  little 
stream  called  ^lisa-hatcha.  It  has  since  been  gathered  by  many  collect- 
ors, among  them  LeConte,  Hucklev,  Dr.  Pai.mer,  Austin,  J.  Donnell 
Smith  1,  Dr.  Garber,  and  Miss  E.  S.  Boyd,  from  all  of  whom  I  have 
specimens.  It  is  found  also  in  Mexico,  in  the  West  Indies  and  in  sev- 
eral countries  of  South  America;  and,  if  all  the  plants  referred  to  this 
species  by  Mr.  Baker  are  really  the  same  thing,  the  range  includes 
also  Japan,   India  and  a  good  part  of  Africa. 

Description.  —  The  entanglal  and  creeping  root-stocks 
form  masses  of  considerable  size,  often  covered  with  mosses, 
as  Plumier  noticed  nearly  two  centuries  ago.  The  scales 
which  ar'j  very  abundant  on  the  root-stocks,  are  narrowly  lan- 
ceolate, and  drawn  out  into  a  long  slender  acumination,  far  finer 
than  hair.  They  are  devoid  of  midnerve,  and  are  made  up  of 
dark  amber-brown  somewhat  cancellated  cells;  the  marginal 
cells  having  short  slightly  curved  teeth  on  thjir  outer  side. 
These  teeth  are  found  also  on  the  slender  acumination.  The 
whole  scale  is  about  two  lines   long,  and   only  the   third   part 

t  Mcsi^rs.  Sinitli  ;mil  Austin  liuiiul  llie  piot!ialliiic  {growth  of  this  fern  very  abun- 
dant on  Palini'ttos  alontr  the  Caluusa-hatchie  river. 


'Ill; 


FERNS   OF    NORTH   AMERICA. 


291 


of  a  line  wide  at  the  widest  place.     The  rootlets  are  covered 
with  a  yellowish-brown  tomentum. 

The  fronds  are  densely  clustered,  pendent  in  habit,  thickish 
and  almost  fleshy  in  texture  in  the  living  plant,  but  more 
coriaceous  when  dried.  They  arc  sessile,  or  at  most  provided 
with  a  blcickish  stalk  only  a  few  lines  long.  They  are  about 
a  line  and  a  quarter  or  perhaps  a  line  and  a  half  wide,  and 
of  any  length,  from  an  inch  in  young  plants  up  to  three  feet 
in  mature  ones,  as  observed  by  Dr.  Garber,  or  a  metre,  as 
recorded  by  Fee.  They  may  therefore  be  over  three  hundred 
times  as  long  as  they  are  wide,  a  proportion  to  be  found, 
probably,  in  no  other  fern. 

The  principal  veins  are  three,  and  can  be  seen  best  by 
splitting  a  frond  with  a  very  thin  and  sharp  knife.  The  mid- 
vein  is  completely  buried  in  the  parenchyma  of  the  frond. 
The  fertile  veins  are  parallel  with  it,  one  on  each  side,  very 
near  the  margin,  each  one  nearly  reached  by  a  furrow  on  the 
under  side  of  the  frond.  At  distant  intervals  there  is  a  very 
short  oblique  veinlet  rising  from  the  midvein  and  connecting 
it  with  one  or  the  other  of  the  fertile  veins.  In  very  young 
plants  the  fronds  are  thinner  and  sterile,  and  the  veins  can 
be  very  easily  seen.  The  edges  of  the  furrows  are  very  thin, 
and  at  first  meet  each  other,  but  are  afterwards  somewhat 
separated.  At  the  bottom  of  each  furrow  is  a  continuous 
line-like  sorus,  made  up  of  a  few  sporangia  and  many  curved 
or   contorted   sometimes   branching   filaments,  the  sporangias- 


2g2 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


ters  of  Fee,  which  arc  probably  abortive  sporangia.  In  some 
other  species  of  Vittaria  these  end  in  a  bell  or  cup.  'nit. 
in  this  species  they  are  simply  a  little  enlarged  at  the  end. 
Fee  calls  them  ribbon-like.  To  me  they  seem  canaliculate 
along  the  outside  of  the  longitudinal  curve.  The  sporangia 
are  roundish,  and  have  a  ring  of  about  fourteen  or  sixteen 
joints.  The  spores  are  smooth  and  ovoid-reniform,  as  the)  .ue 
in  all  but  two  species  of  the  genus. 

Fee  remarks,  — '' V.  Hiicata  is  the  species  longest  known, 
and  the  one  about  which  there  is  most  vagueness  and  uncer- 
tainty  in   the   descriptions.      We   believe    it   to    be   exclusively 

American \Vc    -"gard  as  being    V.  lincata,  every  kind 

which  grows  in  a  cluster  from  a  root-stock  little  disposed  to 
advance,  having  fronds  rolled  in  along  their  edges  in  drying, 
and  having  then  a  channelled  appearance ;  with  marginal  spo- 
rothccia  inside  a  fold  {replies  en  dedans),  and  with  ribbon-like 
sporangiastcrs."  In  our  plant  the  sporothccia  or  sporangia 
are  intramargiual  rather  than  marginal,  but  as  Fee  says  the 
Florida  plant  is  the  true  l^.  lineaia,  it  is  perhaps  fair  to  sup- 
pose that  his  word  "marginal"  is  not  to  be  understood  too 
literally.  Fet  gives  twenty-five  Vittarias,  but  the  authors  of 
the  Synopsis  Filicum  only  thirteen. 


The  plate  is  drawn  from  a  |)lant  collected  by  Dr.  Edward  Palmer 
near  the  Indian  River.  The  details  show  a  part  of  a  frond  enlarged,  and 
a  section  of  the   same  ;    also  a  spore  and  a  contorted  sporangiaster. 


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FERNS    OF    NORTH    AMERICA. 


293 


Plate  XXXIX.  — Fig.   i-6. 

NOTHOL^NA  SINUATA,  Kaulfuss. 

Wavy-leaved   Notholsena. 

N0TH0L.ENA   .SINUATA:  — Root-stock  short  and  thick,  veiy 
chaffy   with   narrow   ferruginous    scales;    stalks    short,   covered, 
when  young  at  least,  with  ciliated  scales;    frontls  six  inches  to 
two   feet    high,    rigid,    narrowly   oblong-linear,    simply   pinnate; 
pinn.ne   numerous,  short-stalked,   coriaceous,  roundish   or   ovate,' 
often   somewhat   cordate,   obtuse,  nearly   entire   or   sinuatcd   or 
sinuately  lobed;  upper  surface  more  or  less  sprinkled  with  stel- 
late or  pinnately  divided  white  scales;  lower  surface  and  rachis 
densely  covered  with  ferruginous  ovate  or  ovate-lanceolate  cili- 
ated scales  which  conceal  the  sub-marginal  sporangia. 
JVo(Ao/.,uu  sinmfa,    Ivvulfuss,    Enum.   Fil.,  p.    i35._K,.^..„,,  ,•„  Linnrea. 
xiii.,  p.   135;   Die  Farrnkraiitcr,  p.  95,  t.  45  — Link.  Fil.  Hort. 
Berol.,  p.   145.  — MARTiixs  &   CIvLEonr.  Syn.  Fil.    Mex.,   p.  46. 
-LiicDMANN,    Mex.    Bregn.,    p.    6.._Fi.:i:,   Smo  Mem.,  p.    1,7; 
gmeMem.,  p.  12.  — MnTKxus   Fil.  Hort.  Lips.,  p.  45._Eatox,' 
in  Bot.  Mex.  Boundary,  p.  234.  — Hooker,  .Sj,.    Fil.,  v.,  p.    107 
(cxcluclincv   var.  bipinnata)-   "Hot.  Mag.,  r.  4699."- Hooker  & 
Baker,  .Syn.  Fil.,  p.  370.  — Four.mer,  PI.  Mc.x.,  Crypt.,  p.  120. 
Acrostichuvi  sinvaium,   SwAiny,    .Syn.   Fil..  p.    .4.-\Villdenow,   Sp.  PI., 
v.,  p.    120. 

Gymnogravtmc  shtuafa,  Presl,  Tent.  Pterid..  p.  2r9._M,.nTENius.  Cheil- 


1 '.« 

1' 


294 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


.■I 


anthcs,  p.  6.  —  KiuiN,  Beitr.  z.  Mcx.  Farnfiora,  p.  2. 
Nothol^ia  lewis,  Martens  &  Galeotti,  Syn.   Fil.  Mcx.,  p.  46.  —  Kunze, 

in  Linnc-ea,  xviii.,  p.  323;  xx.,  p.  417. — Fee,  11.  cc. 
Notholctfia  pruinosa,   Fi'e,   8me  Mem.,  p.   78;   gme  Mem.  p.   12;   lome 

Mem.,  p.  20,  t.  34,  f.  2. 

Had.  —  On  rocks,  often  much  exposed  to  the  sun;  from  Texas  to 
New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  and  southward  to  Peru  and  possibly  Chili. 
Mr.  Wright  collected  it  on  the  rocky  bluffs  of  Rio  Frio,  in  Texas. 
Dr.  Seguin  found  it  in  Garita  Canon,  San  Andreas  Mountains,  New 
Mexico.  Dr.  Rotiirock  found  it  growing  on  limestone  near  Camp  Bowie 
in  Eastern  Arizona,  and  at  Cottonwood  in  the  same  Tcrritorj',  at  an  ele- 
vation of  4,500  feet.  The  Botanists  of  the  Mexican  Boundary  Survey 
collected  it  at  several  places  in  Texas  and  New  Mexico,  and  Mrs.  E. 
P.  Thompson  has  sent  it  also,  though  whether  from  Arizona  or  Southern 
Utah  is  at  present  doubtful.  The  writers  on  Mexican  Ferns  name 
many  stations  for  it,  on  limestone,  trachyte,  conglomerate,  in  crevices 
of  lava,  and  on  walls,  assigning  to  it  a  vertical  range  from  2,000  to 
7,000   feet   above    the   sea. 

Description: — The  root-stock  is  rather  short,  creeping, 
and  swollen  in  places  into  "  bulbiform  knobs  as  large  as  hazel- 
nuts." It  is  very  densely  clothed  with  narrow  acuminate  rather 
rigid  but  slightly  sinuous  ferruginous  scales.  The  stalks  are 
a  few  inches  long,  bright  reddish-brown,  round  and  wiry,  and 
clothed  at  the  very  base  with  chaff  like  that  of  the  root-stock. 
The  rest  of  the  stalk  and  the  rachis  have  a  somewhat  decid- 
uous covering  of  very  delicate  lanceolate  scales  of  two  kinds 
intermixed;  larger  ones  which  arc  but  slightly  ciliated,  and 
smaller  ones  very  deeply  and  elegantly  ciliated. 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


295 


The    fronds,   exclusive   of  stalk,  are    from    six    inches    to 
nearly   two   feet   high,   erect   and   rigid,   coriaceous   in   texture, 
narrowly  oblong-linear   in   outline,   and   simply   pinnate.      The 
pinnas  vary  in  length   from  two  or  three  lines  to  three-fourths 
of  an   inch,  or  possibly  more,  and   in  width   from  two   to   six 
lines.     There  are  from  twenty  to  thirty  or   more   each  side  of 
the  rachis,  all  alike  except   the   uppermost,  which  are   smaller, 
and  pass  gradually  into  the  short  pinnatiiid  apex  of  the  frond. 
In  small  fronds  the  pinnae  are  roundish  and  slighily  crenated: 
in  larger  fronds  they  are  more  ovate,  and  have  sinuated   mar- 
gms;  and  in   the   largest  they  are  cordate-ovate,  and  sinuately 
lobed    half-way  to  the  midvein.     The  under  surface  is  thickly 
covered    with    appressed    and   inbricatcd,   ovate   or   lanceolate, 
pectinately  ciliated  or  radiately  multifid  scales;  the  upper  sur- 
face bears  scattered  pectinate  or  stellate  scales,  which   appear 
to  be  sometimes  lacking,  and   the   plant   is   then   var.  intcgya 
of  Licbmann,  the  A^.  Icavis  of  Martens  &  Galeotti.     The  scales 
of  the  upper  surface   are  white;   those  of  the  under  surface 
are    commonly   cinnamon-brown    in    the    middle,   and    white 
around  the  edges.     Occasionally,  and  probably  through  either 
immaturity  or  over-maturity,  the  under  scales  arc  nearly  white 
throughout,  and  it   is  on   plants   in   this   condition   that    Fee 
founded  his  N.pniimsa,  made  a  variety  by  Fournier.     Rarely 
the  under  scales  are  ciliated  only  at  the  base,  and    only  den- 
ticulate along  the  sides. 

The  veins  are  very  obscure,  being  not  only  hidden  under 
the  scales,  but  buried   in    the   coriaceous    pinnae.     They  seem 


\^\. 


296 


FEKNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


to  be  crowded,  and  nearly  straight,  the  upper  part  thickened 
a  little  and  fertile,  making  the  sori  somewhat  elongated  on 
the  upper  part  of  the  veins.  The  spores  are  irregularly 
sphcroid-tetrahedral,  the  surface  very  rough,  and  of  a  dingy 
ycUovvish-bnnvn.  Mettenius  and  Kuhn,  following  the  example 
of  Presl,  referretl  this  species  to  Gyinnognviniic  rather  than 
Nothokcua,  since  the  sori  follow  the  veins  almost  too  far 
down  their  tips  to  accord  well  with  the  latter  genus;  but  its 
nearest  relatives  seem  to  be  in  Notliolccmi  rather  than  in 
Gymnognmmie. 

I'latc  XXXIX.,  Fig.  1-6. — Notholccna  sinuata.  Fig.  i  is  a  plant 
of  medium  size,  having  ovate  and  sinuuted  pinn;c.  Fig.  2  represents 
three  pinna;  of  the  largest  form.  F'ig.  3  is  a  frond  of  the  smallest 
form.  Fig.  4  is  a  pinna  from  Fig.  i,  enlarged  and  showing  the  chaffy 
lower  surface.  Fig.  5  is  a  scale  from  4,  magnified.  Fig.  6  a  spore 
higiiiy  magnified. 


iii 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


ag? 


Pi-AiT.  XXXIX.  — Fig.  7-10. 

NOTIIOL/ENA   FIZRRUGINEA,   Desvaux. 

Rusty  Notholaena. 

NoTHOL/ENA  FERRUGiNEA :  —  Root-stoclc  Creeping,  knottccl 
with  bud-like  frontl-bearinj>-  branchlets,  and  densely  covered 
with  narrow  blackish  rigid  scales;  stalks  a  few  inches  high, 
tufted,  wiry,  dark-brown,  woolly,  like  the  rachis,  with  some- 
times deciduous  rusty  fibres;  fronds  linear-lanceolate,  live  to 
twelve  inches  long,  usually  less  than  one  inch  wide,  erect, 
sub-coriaceous,  pinnate;  pinnae  numerous,  oblong-ovate,  almost 
se.  sile,  pinnatifid  into  six  or  eight  close-set  little  oblong  lobes 
on  each  side,  grayish-villous  above,  heavily  tomentosc  beneath 
with  entangled  whitish  or  ferruginous  woolly  hairs;  sporangia 
at  the  ends  of  the  veins,  at  length  showing  through  the  to- 
mentum,  often  very  dark  brown  or  even  black. 

Notholana  fcrruginca,  Ddsvaux,  "Joiirn.  Bot.  Appl.,  i.,  p.  92."— Hooker, 
Second  Century  of  Ferns,  t.  lii;  Sp.  Fil.,  v.,  p.  108.— MooiciiK 
&  Baki:k,  Syn.  l-il.,  \>.  3 70.  —  Fouknidr,  PI.  Mex.,  Crypt,,  p.  120. 
—  Eaton-,  Ferns  of  the    Southwest,  p.  306. 

Ckcilantltcs  fcrniginccj,  Wii.i.ui-Now,  "  Herb."— Kaui.I'Us.s,  Enum.  Fil.. 
p.  209.  — Link,  Fil.  Hort.  Berol.,  p.  65.  — MErrENiu.s,  CheiJan- 
thes,  p.   23. 

Pdlaa  fcrruginca,  Nees,  in  Linnaca,  xlx.,  p.  684. 

Cincinalis  fcrniginca,  Desvaux,  in  Mag.  d.  Gesellsch.  Nat.  Frcund.  z. 
Berlin,  v.   (181 1),  p.  311    {The  original  tiame). 


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398 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


Notholana  ru/a,  Presl,  Rcliq.  Flaenk,  i.,  p.  19.  —  Kunze,  in  Linnxa, 
ix.,  p.  55;  xiii.,  p.  135;  xviii.,  p.  324.  —  Martens  &  GAi.noTTi, 
Syn.  Fil.  Mex.,  p.  45. — Liebmann,  Mex.  Brcgn.,  p.  62. —  Eaton, 
in  Bot.  Mex.  noundary,  p.  234. 

Haii. — Collected  in  the  Survey  of  the  Mexican  Boundary  in  rocky 
places  along  the  Rio  San  Pedro  and  Rio  Grande,  in  Texas,  and  in  the 
Organ  Mountains  of  New  Mexico.  .Sanoita  Valley,  Arizona,  Professor 
RoTHROCK.  Not  rare  in  Mexico,  found  ^-rowing  on  calcareous  and  •  va- 
rious kinds  of  ignoous  Ov'ks,  and  on  the  ground.  Also  seen  in  Jamaica, 
and  in  Guatemala,  Vo'iezuela,  Columbia,  Ecuador  and  Peru. 

Description-  -The  root-stock  is  a  few  inches  long,  and 
perhaps  a  little  thicker  than  a  crow-quill.  Along  the  lower 
side  it  has  long  fibrous  roots,  and  on  the  upper  it  is  said 
by  Hooker  to  produce  "bulbiform  scaly  buds  which  arc  fron- 
diferous."  My  specimens,  unfortunately,  have  too  scanty  a 
root-stock  to  show  this  very  clearly.  The  scales  are  very 
abundant,  but  only  about  a  line  long:  they  are  lanceolate- 
subulate,  very  rigid,  and  consist  of  a  strong  nearly  black 
midncrve,  bordered  along  its  lower  half  by  a  narrow  trans- 
parent cellular  membrane,  slightly  denticulate  along  the  edges. 
The  stalks  are  erect,  two  to  six  inches  long,  terete,  wiry,  and 
very  dark  brown  in  color.  Like  the  rachis,  they  are  at  first 
covered  with  fine  pale-brown  or  rusty  woolly  fibres;  but  this 
covering  is  apt  to  be  worn  off  in  mature  specimens.  The 
section  of  the  stalk  shows  a  very  thick  and  dark  external 
sheath,  and  in  the  middle  a  butterfly-shaped  fibro-vascular 
bundle. 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


299 


The  fronds  in  Professor  Rothrock's  Arizona  specimens 
are  from  five  to  ten  inches  long,  and  six  to  nine  lines  wide. 
A  very  fine  frond,  collected  in  Chiapas  by  Dr.  Ghiesbreght, 
is  over  a  foot  long,  and  a  little  more  than  an  inch  wide. 
The  fronds  arc  linear-lanceolate  in  shape,  moderately  acute 
at  the  apex,  and  taper  slightly  from  near  the  middle  to  the 
base.  The  pinnae  are  from  twenty-five  to  forty  on  each  side, 
in  general  oblong-ovate,  broadest  at  the  very  short-stalked 
base,  the  lower  ones  often  half  an  inch  apart,  but  the  upper 
ones  crowded,  and  sometimes  even  overlapping.  They  are 
lobed  about  half-way  to  the  midvein  into  from  six  to  nine 
or  ten  little  oblong,  somewhat  rounded,  lobes  on  each  side. 
The  upper  surface  of  the  pinnae  is  greenish-gray,  from  a  fine 
villous  pubescence:  the  lower  surface  has  a  dense  covering 
of  very  fine  entangled  woolly  hairs,  which  are  sometimes 
nearly  white,  at  other  times  light  ferruginous-brown,  and, 
again,  of  a  deep-brown  color.  Kunze  (in  Linna^a,  xviii.,  p. 
324)  seems  to  be  of  the  opinion  that  the  color  of  the  to- 
mentum  is  paler  in  young  fronds  than  in  mature  ones,  and 
analogous  differences  in  the  color  of  the  scales  or  of  the 
tomentum  in  some  other  ferns  would  strengthen  this  view, 
but  the   matter   is  not  yet  fully  proved. 

The  sporangia  are  borne  just  at  the  ends  of  the  veins, 
and  the  margin  of  the  lobes  is  slightly  recurved,  as  if  mak- 
ing a  feeble  attempt  to  form  an  involucre.  The  plant  was 
first  described  as  a  Cincinalis,  then  as  Nothohcna  and  then 
as  C/ieilant/ies,  and  is  now  again  usually  considered   a  Noffi- 


'■'' 


300 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


oleena,  but,  as  Sir  W.  J.  Hooker  remarks,  "it  has  nearly  as 
good  a  claim  to  rank  with  the  one  genus  as  with  the  other. 
The  sporangia  have  been  described  as  quite  black,  but  they 
are  often  not  much  deeper  in  color  than  the  tomentum  in 
which  they  are  embedded.  The  spores  are  globular,  dark 
resinous-brown,   and   very   large. 

There  is  no  other  feni  in  the  United  States,  with  which 
this  need  be  confused.  From  A'^  sinuaia,  apart  from  the 
difference  in  the  shape  of  the  pinnx,  it  is  abundantly  distin- 
guished by  the  nature  of  the  covering  of  the  pinnae,  scaly 
in  that  species,  and  finely  tomentose  in  this.  The  other 
woolly  or  tomentose  Notholienas  found  within  our  limits 
have  thrice  or  four  times  pinnate  fronds,  very  unlike  those 
of  A'^  fcrruginca.  The  Chilian  N.  hypoleuca  comes  much 
nearer  to  it,  but  has  a  blacker  stalk,  a  shorter  frond,  and 
more  deeply  pinnatifid  pinn.Te,  nearly  smooth  above,  and  mat- 
ted with  pure-white  or  pale-ferruginous  very  fine  tomentum 
beneath. 

Plate  XXXIX.,  Fig.  7-to. — Notkolana  ferruginea.  —  Fig.  7  is  a 
plant  with  two  fronds;  Fig.  8,  a  pinna  enlarged  and  showing  the  spo- 
rangia; Fig.  9,  a  little  of  the  tomentum  or  wool,  highly  magnified; 
Fig.  10,  a  spore. 


FEKNS  OP  NORTH   AMERICA. 


301 


Pij\TE  XXXIX.— Fig.  11-14. 

NOTHOL/CNA  NEWBERRYI,  D.  C.  Eaton. 

Newberry's  Notholsena. 

Nothouena  Newberryi:  —  Root-stock  creeping,  covered 
wtth  very  narrow  dark-brown  subulate  scales;  stalks  clus- 
tered, three  to  six  inches  long,  slender,  blackish-brown,  at 
first  woolly  with  a  pale-ferruginous  tomentum;  fronds  as  long 
as  the  stalks,  lanceolate-oblong,  covered,  most  densely  beneath, 
with  a  web  of  very  fine  entangled  whitish  hairs,  tri-quadri- 
pinnate;  pinnx  triangular-ovate,  the  lowest  ones  rather  dis- 
tant, but  not  reduced  in  size;  ultimate  segments  crowded, 
roundish-obovate,  one-third  to  one-half  a  line  wide,  entire  or 
slightly  crenatc;  sporangia  rather  large,  blackish,  at  length 
emergent  from  the  tomentum. 

NothoUnia  Newberryi,  Eaton,  in  Bulletin  of  Torrey  Botan.  Club,  iv., 
p.  12;  Ferns  of  the  Southwest,  p.  307.  —  BhKER,  Syn.  Fil.,  cd. 
ii..  p.  515- 

Hah.  —  Southern  Counties  of  California,  often  among  dry  and  ex- 
posed rocks.  Discovered  near  San  Diego  by  Vrofcssor  J.  S.  Newberry, 
November  9,  1857,  and  since  gathered  near  tl-.at  city  by  Professor  Woon, 
Mr.  CLEViiLAND  and  others.  Abundant  in  the  Temescal  Range,  Pro- 
fessor Brewer.  Near  San  Bernardino,  Dr.  Palmer.  The  fmest  speci- 
mens I  have  seen  were  collected  near  Poway,  about  seventeen  miles 
northward  of  San  Diego,  by  Mr.  VViluam  Stout. 


y 


3oa 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


Description: — Root-stocks  creeping,  more  or  less  branched, 
matted  together  and  covered  with  minute  blackish-brown  sub- 
ulate rather  rigid  scales.  The  stalks  are  mostly  about  four 
inches  long,  erect,  slender,  wiry,  /ery  dark-brown  and  at  length 
smooth  and  polished,  though  at  first  covered  with  a  rusty- 
whitish  wool.  The  section  is  round,  and  shows  a  single 
roundish  fibro-vascular  bundle  in  the  middle. 

The  fronds  are  about  as  long  as  the  stalks,  and  an  inch 
to  nearly  two  inches  wide,  lanceolate-oblong  in  shape,  and 
whitened  on  both  surfaces  with  a  web  of  very  fine  entangled 
hairs.  This  covering  is  very  heavy  on  the  under  surface,  but 
so  thin  on  the  upper  that  the  green  color  of  the  frond  may 
be  seen  through  it.  In  young  fronds  it  is  creamy-white,  but 
as  the  fronds  mature  it  gradually  deepens  into  a  pale  rusty 
brown.  The  fronds  are  fairly  tripinnate,  and  a  few  oi  the 
pinnules  nearest  the  midrib  are  often  again  divided,  so  as  to 
render  the  frond  sulMjuadripinnatc.  The  primary  pinnae  are 
from  half  an  inch  to  an  inch  long,  and  are  triangular-ovate 
in  shape,  the  lower  ones  being  broader  and  more  remote  than 
the  rest.  The  ultimate  segments  are  very  minute,  roundish- 
obovate,  and  much  crowded,  just  as  in  the  species  of  C/tcilan- 
thes  of  the  section  Myriopteris. 

In  fertile  fronds  the  sporangia  form  a  blackish  line  around 
the  edge  of  the  segments,  which  are  perfectly  flat,  and  have 
not  even  the  suggestion  of  an  involucre.  The  sporangia  are 
so  few  as  to  form  but  a  single  marginal   row,  and   are,  when 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


303 


fully  ripe,  blacker  than  in  any  other  North  American  fern. 
They  are  twice  the  size  of  the  sporangia  of  Polypodium  vul- 
garc,  globular,  and  almost  sessile.  The  ring  has  about  four- 
teen or  sixteen  articulations,  and  the  cells  of  the  sfonia,  or 
place  where  the  sporangiuni  opens,  are  very  long  and  narrow. 
The  spores  are  also  very  large,  and  very  dark-colored:  they 
are  globular,  slightly  roughened,  and  marked  with  three  faint 
radiating  vittae. 

This  fern  has  very  much  the  appearance  of  Chcilanthcs 
totnentosa,  but  is  whiter,  more  webby  than  woolly,  and  differs 
generically  in  the  absence  of  an  involucre.  Notliolccmi  Paryyi, 
to  be  figured  in  a  later  number  of  this  work,  is  a  much 
smaller  plant,  and  has  a  much  coarser  pubescence.  A^.  mollis, 
from  Chili,  has  also  some  resemblance  to  it,  but  in  that  plant 
the  ultimate  pinnules  are  less  crowded,  and  the  heavier,  and 
deep-colored  tomentum  is  stellated  in  its  structure. 

The  genus  NothoUcna  contains  in  all  about  three  dozen 
species,  the  greater  part  South  American,  but  two  arc  South 
European,  and  a  few  African,  Indian  or  Australasian.  Within 
our  limits  are  nine  or  perhaps  ten  species,  of  which  four  have 
the  fronds  coated  beneath  with  yellow  or  white  ceraceous 
powder,  and  belong  to  the  section  Cincinalis.  The  rest  are 
either  scaly  or  woolly  beneath,  except  A^.  tcucra.  of  Gillies, 
which  has  a  smooth  frond. 

Notholcena  Asclicuhoruiana,  of  Klotzsch,  is  attributed  to 
"Texas  and  Mexico"  in  Synopsis  Filicum.  I  have  never 
seen   any  specimens   of   this   species,  and   hope   that   some   of 


IJIfWf  ^  ™^!li^-Tl^^"T»!"Tr'TT 


304 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


our  Botanists  in  Texas  or  New  Mexico  may  be  so  fortunate 
as  to  find  it.  It  is  described  as  having  a  tripjnnatifid  frond 
eight  to  twelve  inches  long,  linear-oblong  crenate  or  pinnatifid 
segments,  and  has  the  lower  surface  matted  with  ciliated  fer- 
niginous  scales,  beneath  which  are  "minute  reddish  apparently 
resinous  dots." 

Plate  XXXIX,  Fig.  11-14. — Notholana  Ncwberryi.  Fig.  11  is  a 
plant  with  two  fronds.  Fig.  12  shows  a  few  of  the  woolly  hairs,  magnified. 
Fig.  13  is  a  pinnule,  stripped  of  the  wool,  and  showing  the  sporangia, 
also  magnified.     Fig.  14,  a  spore. 


WJ!JI^CA 


wm 


In 


•!  'i 


FERNS  OP  NORTH  AMERICA. 


305 


Plate  XL. 

ASPIDIUM  GOLDIANUM.  Hooker. 
QoldJe's  Wood-Fcm. 

AspiDiUM  Goldianum: -Moot-stock  stout,  ascending, 
chaffy;  stalks  about  a  foot  long,  chaffy  at  the  base  with 
large  ovate -acuminate  f  1  uginous  or  iieep- lustrous -brown 
scales;  fronds  standing  in  a  er  wn,  one  to  two  and  a  half 
feet  long,  bioadly  ovate,  or  the  fertile  ones  oblong-ovate, 
chartaceo-membranaceous,  nearly  smooth,  bright-green  aljove, 
a  little  paler  beneath,  pinnate;  pinnae  broiHIy  lanceolate,  five 
to  eight  inches  long,  one  to  two  and  a  half  broad,  usually, 
especially  the  lowest  ones,  narrower  at  the  base  than  in  the 
middle,  pinnatifid  almost  to  the  midrib;  segments  numerous, 
oblong-linear,  often  slightly  falcate,  crenate,  or  serrate  with 
sharp  incurved  teeth;  veins  free,  mostly  with  three  vcinlets, 
the  lowest  superior  veinlets  bearing  near  their  base  the  large 
sori  very  near  the  midvein;  indusium  large,  flat,  smooth,  or- 
bicular with  a  narrow  sinus. 

Aspidium  (ioldianutn,  Hooker,  in  Goldie's  Ace.  of  rare  Canad.  PI.  in 
Edinb.  Phil.  Journ.,  vi.,  p.  333;  Fl.  Am.-Hor.,  ii.,  p.  260. — 
ToRREY,  Fl.  New  York,  ii.,  p.  495. — Gray,  Maniial,  cd.  ii.,  p. 
598,  ed.  v.,  p.  666. — Mettknius,  Fil.  Hort.  Lips.,  p.  92; 
Aspid.,  p.  56. — WiLUAMSON,  Ferns  of  Kentucky,  p.  95,  t.  xx.xiv. 


'1; 


«  a 


'1  '.,;: 


3o6 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


Nephrodium  Goldianum,  Hooker  &  Greville,  Ic.  Fil.  t.  cii. — Hooker, 
Sp.  Fil.,  iv.,  p.   12  1.  —  Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  272. 

Lastrea  Goldiana,  Presl,  Teni.  Pterid.,  p.  76.  —  Lwvson,  in  Canad. 
Nat.  i.,  p.  282. 

Dryopteris  Goldiana,  Gr.\y,  Manual,  ed.  i.,  p.  631. 

Aspidium  Filix-maSy  1'lrsh,  F1.  Am.  Sept.,  ii.,  p.  662. 

Hab.  —  Deep,  rocky  woods,  from  Canada  and  Maine  to  Indiana, 
Virginia  and  Kentucky.  It  is  also  named  in  local  catalogues  of  the 
flora  of  Wisconsin  and  Kansas.     Not  known  in  the  Old  World. 

Description: — The  root-stock  is  creeping  or  ascending, 
several  inches  long,  and  nearly  an  inch  thick.  This  thickness 
is  made  up,  in  considerable  part,  by  the  adherent  bases  of  old 
stalks;  the  stalks  being  perfectly  continuous  with  the  root- 
stock,  and  so  much  crowded  as  to  overlap  each  other.  When 
fresh  the  root-stock  is  fleshy,  and  a  longitudinal  section  of  it 
shows  that  its  substance  passes  so  gradually  into  that  of  the 
stalk-bases,  that  no  point  of  separation  or  distinction  between 
the  two  can  be  selected.  This  kind  of  root-stor.k  is  found 
also  in  Aspidium  spinulosum.  and  its  allies,  in  A.  Filix-mas, 
A.  cristatiim,  A.  marginale,  A.  Nexuidense,  A.  fragrans,  and 
A.  rtgidimt,  and  in  very  many  exotic  species,  and  it  is  very 
unlike  the  root-stocks  of  A.  Thelyptcris,  A.  Novcboracense, 
and  A.  ttnitiim,  species  which  have  been  already  described 
and  figured  in  the  present  work.  The  parenchymatous  por- 
tion of  the  root-stock  is  loaded  with  starch  in  very  minute 
grains,  as  may  be  easily  proved  by  adding  a  drop  of  alcoholic 
solution   of    iodine   to   a   thin   slice  of   the   root-stock  placed 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


307 


under  a  microscope,  when  the  grains  will  be  presently  seen 
to  turn  blue,  the  recognized  sign  of  starch.  This  abundance 
of  nutritive  material  in  the  root-stock  enables  it  to  send  up 
a  fine  circle  of  large  fronds  in  the  proper  season  of  the  year. 

The  stalks  are  from  nine  to  fifteen  inches  long,  rather 
stout,  green  when  living,  but  straw-color  when  dried  for  the 
herbarium,  in  which  condition  they  are  furrowed  in  front  and 
along  the  two  sides.  At  the  base  they  are  covered  with  large 
ovate-acuminate  brown  or  sometimes  dark  and  shining  scales. 
Mixed  in  with  these  are  smaller  and  narrower  chaffy  scales, 
which  also  are  found  along  the  whole  length  of  the  stalk 
and  the  rachis.  The  cross-section  of  the  stalk  shows  two 
rather  large  roundish  fibro-vascular  bundles  on  the  anterior 
side,  and  three,  the  middle  one  largest,  at  the  back. 

Several  fronds  are  usually  seen  growing  from  a  root- 
stock,  those  produced  early  in  the  season  commonly  sterile, 
and  shorter  than  the  others.  The  full-grown  and  fertile  fronds 
are  often  two  feet  or  two  and  a  half  feet  long,  and  about 
one  foot  broad.  The  general  outline  is  oblong-ovate,  the  low- 
est pinnae  being  scarcely,  if  at  all,  shorter  than  those  in  the 
middle  of  the  frond.  There  are  usually  about  eight  or  ten 
full-sized  pinnae  each  side  of  the  rachis,  besides  the  gradually 
diminishing  pinnne  near  the  acute  pinnatifid  apex.  The  larger 
pinnx  are  from  five  to  eight  inches  long,  the  middle  ones  an 
inch  or  an  inch  and  a  half  wide,  but  the  lowest  ones  two 
inches  and  a  half  broad.  The  greatest  breadth  of  the  pinnae 
is  usually  near  the  middle  or  even  a  little  above  the  middle, 


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3o8 


FERNS   OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


SO  that  they  are  slightly  narrowed  towards  the  base ;  and  in 
this  character  lies  one  of  the  readiest  distinctions  between 
this  fern  and  those  large  forms  of  A.  cristatum,  which  have 
occasionally  been  mistaken  for  A.  Goldiamim;  for  in  that 
other  species  the  greatest  breadth  of  the  pinnae  is  uniformly 
at  the  base. 

The  segments  of  the  pinnae  are  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
each  side  the  midrib:  the  incisions  do  not  extend  quite  to 
the  midrib,  so  that  the  latter  is  narrowly  winged,  and  the 
pinnae  are  pinnatifid  rather  than  pinnate.  The  segments  are 
from  nine  to  eighteen  lines  long,  and  about  three  lines  wide: 
they  are  set  rather  obliquely  on  the  midrib,  and  are  often 
slightly  curved  upwards,  or  falcate.  They  are  obtuse  or 
somewhat  acute,  and  have  the  edges  crenate,  or  more  or  less 
distinctly  serrate  with  sharp  incurved  teeth. 

The  veins  are  free,  and  are  pinnately  forked  into  from 
three  to  five  slender  oblique  veinlets,  of  which  the  lowest 
one  on  the  upper  side  is  the  longest,  and  bears  a  fruit-dot 
near  its  base.  The  fruit-dots  are  seldom  or  never  found  on 
the  two  or  three  lowest  pinnae,  but  on  the  rest  they  are  ar- 
ranged in  a  row  each  side  the  midveins  of  the  segments,  and 
much  nearer  the  midveins  than  the  margins.  There  are  in 
all  from  ten  to  twenty  to  a  segment. 

The  indusia  are  larger  than  in  most  of  the  related  spe- 
cies, flat,  perfectly  smooth,  orbicular  with  a  very  narrow  sinus, 
and  slightly  erose-crenulate  on  the  margin.  In  the  second 
edition  of  Gray's  Manual  it  is  said  that  the  indusium  is  "often 


FERNS   OP   NORTH   AMERICA. 


309 


orbicular  without  a  distinct  sinus,  as  in  Polystichum ;"  and 
it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  see  the  sinus,  but  I  think  it  is  rather 
because  the  sides  of  it  overlap  than  because  there  is  none. 
The  sporangia  have  a  ring  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  articu- 
lations. The  spores  are  ovoid,  and  somewhat  roughened  on 
the  surface. 

This  fern  is  one  of  the  very  finest  and  largest  of  the 
species  of  the  Eastern  States,  being  surpassed  in  these  re- 
spects only  by  the  osmundas  and  the  ostrich-fern.  The  fronds 
are  smooth,  deep-green  in  color,  slightly  paler  beneath,  and  of 
a  rather  firm  papery  texture.  Unlike  A.  Filixmas  and  A. 
cristatnm  the  fronds  wither  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  and  are 
not  "  half-evergreen." 

It  was  collected  by  Pursh  on  his  visit  to  America  in  the 
early  part  of  this  century,  the  precise  locality  not  known, — 
in  the  Flora  he  says  "New  Jersey  to  Virginia," — and  was  by 
him  referred  to  A.  Filix-mas.  His  specimens,  preserved  i.. 
the  herbarium  at  Kew,  are  partly  A.  Goldiamim  and  partly 
A.  cristatnm.  Mr.  John  Goldie's  discovery  was  made  near 
Montreal,  about  the  year  1818,  and  the  excellent  figure  in 
Hooker  &  Grcville's  Icones  Filicum  was  probably  taken  from 
one  of  his  specimens,  or  perhaps  from  live  plants  originally 
brought  by  him  to  the  Botanic  Garden  at  Glasgow. 

Though  not  one  of  our  commonest  Ferns,  this  is  very 
abundant  in  certain  localities:  —  Mrs.  Roy  sends  it  from  Owen 
Sound,  Canada;  Dr.  Bumstead  got  it  in  Smuggler's  Notch, 
Mt.  Mansfield,  Vermont;    Mr.  Frost  has  a  fine  station  on  Mt. 


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FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


Wantastiquet,  New  Hampshire;  I  find  it  plentiful  and  fine  in 
the  deep  ravine  called  Roaring  Brook,  in  Cheshire,  Connecticut ; 
Professor  Porter  has  it  from  Burgoon's  Gap,  in  the  Alleghany 
Mountains  of  Pennsylvania;  Mrs.  McCall,  near  Madison,  Ohio; 
Mr.  Williamson  "found  it  in  great  abundance  near  the  Little 
Rockcastle  River,  in  Laurel  County,"  Kentucky,  and  Mr.  Cur- 
tis has  twice  sent  me  fine  specimens,  with  very  dark  scales  at 
the  base  of  the  stalks,  from  the  Peaks  of  Otter,  Virginia. 

The  name  is  sometimes  written  Goldieanum;  I  give  the 
name  as  it  occurs  in  Goldie's  original  paper  in  the  Edin- 
burgh Philosophical  Journal. 

The  specimen  drawn  by  Mr.  Faxon  is  from  Vermont,  and  is  rep- 
resented  about  two-thirds  of  the  natural  size.  The  details  show  tlie 
nature  of  the  venation,  an  indusium,  etc. 


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PERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


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PUITE  XLI. 

ASPIDIUM  FILIX-MAS,  Svvartz. 
Male   Pern. 

AspiDiUM  FiLix-MAs:  —  Root-Stock  short,  stout,  ascending 
or  erect;  stalks  rarely  over  a  foot  long,  very  chaffy  with 
large  lanceolate-acuminate  scales  and  smaller  ones  intermixed; 
fronds  standing  in  a  crown,  one  to  three  feet  long,  half-ever- 
green, firm-membranaceous,  broadly  oblong-lanceolate,  slightly 
narrowed  toward  the  base,  pinnate  or  sul>bipinnate;  pinnae 
lanceolate-acuminate  from  a  broad  base,  pinnatifid  almost 
or  rarely  quite  to  the  midrib;  segments  smooth  and  full-green 
above,  slightly  paler  and  bearing  a  few  little  chaffy  scales 
beneath,  normally  oblong,  obtuse  or  even  truncate,  slightly 
toothed,  in  another  form  ovate-lanceolate,  acutish  and  pin- 
nately  incised;  veins  free,  forked  or  pinnatcly  branched  into 
from  two  to  five  veinlets;  sori  rather  large,  nearer  the 
midvein  than  the  margin,  commonly  occurring  only  on  the 
lower  half  or  two-thirds  of  each  segment ;  indusia  convex 
when  young,  rather  firm,  smooth  or  minutely  glandular, 
orbicular-reniform. 

Aspidium  Filix-mas,  Swartz,  in  Schraders  Journal,  ii.,  (1800)  p.  38; 
Syn.  Fil.,  p.  55.  —  Schkuhr,  Krypt.  Gew.,  p.  45,  t.  44. — 
WiLLDENOw,  Sp.    PI.,    v.,    p.    259.  — Link,    Fil.    Hort.    Berol., 


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312 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


p.  105. — RuPRECHT,  Distr.  Krypt.  Vase,  in  Imp.  Ross.,  p.  35. — 
KuNZE,  in  Sill.  Journ.,  July,  184S,  p.  83.  —  METrKNius,  Fil. 
Hort.  Lips.,  p.  92;  Aspidium,  p.  55.  —  Eaton,  in  Gray's  Man- 
ual, cd.  v.,  p.  666.  —  MiLUE,  in  Nov.  Act.  Acad.  Nat.  Cur., 
x.\vi.,  ii.,  p.  507;  Fil.  Eur.  ct  Atl.,  p.  118.  —  Miquel,  Prolusio 
Fl.  Jap.,  p.   117. 

Polypodium  Filix-mas,  Linn^us,  Sp.  PI.  p.   155 1. 

Polyslichum  Filix-mas,  Roth,  "Fl.  Germ.,  iii.,  p.  82." — Keen,  Syn.  Fl. 
Germ,  ct  Helv.,  ed.  iii.,  p.  733. 

Nephrodhim  Filix-mas,  Ricuarh,  "in  Dcsvau.\,  Mdm.  Soc.  Linn.,  vi.,  p. 
60." — Hot)KER,  Brit.  Ferns,  t.  15;  Sp.  Fil.,  iv.,  p.  117. — 
Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  272   (oxcl.  vars.  ,-  and  ,»). 

Dryopteris  Filix-mas,  Schott,  Gen.  Fil.  —  Newman,  Hist.  Brit.  Ferns, 
ed.  iii.,  p.   184. 

Lastrca  Filix-mas,  Presl,  Tent.  Pterid.,  p.  76. — Moore,  Brit.  Ferns, 
Nat.  Pr.,  t.  xiv,  xv,  xvi,  xvii. 


Var.  incisiim,  Mettenius:  —  Frond  ample,  two  to  three  feet  long, 
scantily  chaffy  on  the  rachis;  segments  rather  distant,  lanceolate,  taper- 
ing to  a  sub-acute  point,  incised  on  the  margins  with  serrated  lobules; 
indusium  rather  delicate,  in  age  shrivelling  or  falling  off.  —  Aspidium, 
p.  55;  MiLDE,  Fil.  Eur.  ct  Atl.,  p.  120. — Lastrca  Filix-mas,  var.  incisa, 
Mooke,   I.e. — Ncphrodium  Filix-mas,   var.   affinc,  Hooker  &  Baker.  I.e. 

Var.  palcaceum,  MErrtMUs:  —  Frond  ample,  two  to  three  feet  long, 
stalk  and  rachis  very  chaffy  with  ferruginous  or  blackish  scales;  seg- 
ments oblong,  truncate,  nearly  entire  on  the  margins;  indusium  coria- 
ceous, the  edges  much  incurved,  sometimes  splitting  in  two. — Aspidium, 
p.  55;  MiLDE,  Fil.  Eur.  Atl.,  p.  121. — Lastrca  Filix-mas,  vdx.  palcacca, 
MooRE,  I.e. — Aspidium  palcaceum,  Don,  "  Prodr.  Fl.  Nepal.,  p.  4;" 
FouRNiER,  PI.  Mex.,  Crypt.,  p.  92.     Aspidium  parallclogrammum,  Kunze, 


FERNS   OF    NORTH    AMERICA. 


313 


in  Linnxa,  xiii.,  p.  146,  etc. — Nephrodium  I'ilix-mas,  var.  parallelogram- 
mum,  HooKEK,  Sp.  Fil.,  iv.,  p.  116. — Dichasium  parallclogrammum 
and  D.  patcntissimum.  Fee,  Gen.  Fil.,  p.  302,  t.  x.\iii,  B.  —  Lastrea 
Iruncala,  Bkackenriix^e,  F"il.  of  U.  S.  Expl.  Expcd.,  p.  195,  t.  27 
(admirable).' 

Hah.  —  In  ^n•:  form  or  another,  this  species  '-"ccurs  in  America  from 
Greenland  to  Peru,  throughout  Europe  and  Asia,  in  parts  of  Africa,  and 
in  many  islands  of  the  ocean.  The  ordinary  European  form  correspond- 
ing to  Moore's  plate  XIV  has  been  collected  in  British  Columbia  by 
Dr.  LvAi.L,  in  Keweenaw  Peninsula  of  Northern  Michigan  by  Dr.  Roii- 
BiNs,  and  in  the  mountains  of  Colorado  by  Messrs.  Hai.i.  &  Harhour  and 
Mr.  Brandegee.  Var.  ituisum  was  found  at  the  base  of  calcareous  rocks 
at  Royston  Park,  Owen  Sound,  Ontario,  Canada,  by  Mrs.  Roy,  and  in 
the  mountains  of  Colorado  by  Dr.  Scovili.,  for  one  of  whose  specimens 
1  am  indebted  to  D.  A.  WArr,  Esq.,  of  Montreal.  Fragments  of  ap- 
parently the  same  form  have  been  received  from  Dakota.  The  Califor- 
nian  plant  mentioned  in  Plantse  Hartwegiana;,  p.  342,  is  better  regarded 
as  a  form  of  Aspidium  rigidum.  Var.  paleaceum  has  not  been  found  in 
either  Canada  or  the  United  States,  but  is  well  known  in  Mexico,  in 
Europe,  in  Southern  Asia,  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  etc. 

Description:  —  This  fern  has  a  stout,  usually  ascending, 
but  sometimes  erect,  very  chaffy   root-stock,   very    much   like 


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>  Millie  indicates  severul  other  unimportant  variations ;  and  Hooker  &  Baker  have 
as  varieties  of  this  species  the  East  Indian  Aspidium  cochlealum,  and  Aspidium  clonga- 
tum,  from  Madeira  and  the  Canary  Islands.  Tlic  latter  they  give  as  occurring  also  in  the 
southern  United  States,  evidently  supposing  it  to  be  the  long-lost  A.  Ludovicianum  ot 
Kunze.  For  abundant  synonymy  of  Aspidium  Filix-mas  the  student  is  referred  espe- 
cially to  the  works  of  Hooker,  Milde,  Mettenius  ond  Moore,  as  quoted  above. 


tH 


FEKNS  OF   NOKTH   AMERICA. 


that  of  the  species  last  described.  It  sometimes  rises  a  little 
above  the  surface  of  the  ground,  forming  a  short  trunk. 

The  stalks  seem  to  vary  a  good  deal  in  length,  being 
sometimes  only  two  or  three  inches  long,  and  at  other  times 
over  a  foot.  They  are  clustered  at  the  growing  end  of  the 
root-stock,  and  their  bases,  which  remain  long  after  the  rest 
has  pcrishcil,  are  consolidated  with  the  root-stock.  The  stalks 
are  always  more  or  less  chaffy,  the  chaff  mainly  confined  to 
the  lowest  portion  in  some  plants,  and  in  others  following  the 
stalk  and  the  rachis  to  the  apex  of  the  frond.  The  largest 
scales  are  sometimes  fully  an  inch  long.  They  are  narrowly 
lanceolate-acuminate,  distantly  ciliate-dcnticulate  on  the  margin, 
and  composed  of  narrow  but  somewhat  sinuous  cells.  Mixed 
in  with  them  are  smaller  scales,  from  two  to  four  lines  long, 
and  more  distinctly  ciliate-toothcd.  The  color  of  the  scales 
is  different  in  different  specimens,  varying  from  bright  golden- 
brown  to  ferruginous-brown  with  a  darker  spot  at  the  base, 
and  from  this  to  nearly  black,  especially  in  the  sub-tropical 
and  tropical  forms  of  var.  palcacewu.  Such  specimens  are 
sometimes  fairly  shaggy  with  the  abundance  of  scales,  which 
are  also  found,  decreasing  in  number  and  in  size,  on  the 
midribs  of  the  pinnae,  and  even  on  the  lower  surface  of  the 
segments.  The  usual  number  of  fibro-vascular  bundles  is 
seven. 

The  fronds  are  broadly  lanceolate  or  oblong-lanceolate  in 
outline,  usually  narrowed  a  little,  or  even  conspicuously  nar- 
rowed, at  the  base,  and  acute  or  acuminate  at  the  apex.     They 


FF.RNS  OP   NORTH   AMERICA. 


3'5 


are  of  a  full  herbaceous  j^rccn  above,  a  little  paler  beneath, 
and  of  a  rather  firmly  membranaceous,  or,  in  tropical  forms, 
of  a  sul>coriaceous  texture.  Their  average  length  is  from 
one  to  two  feet,  but  fronds  three  feet  long  are  occasionally 
set-Mi ;  and  one  very  fine  example  of  var.  paieaccum,  collected 
in  Chiapas,  Mexico,  by  Dr.  Ghiesbreght,  is  three  feet  and  a 
half  long,  exclusive  of  the  stalk. 

The  pinnae  are  sometimes  very  numerous;  as  many  as 
forty  on  each  side  have  been  counted  on  very  large  fronds, 
but  the  number  is  more  commonly  less  than  twenty.  They 
are  lanceolate-acuminate  in  shape,  tapering  from  a  broad  base 
to  a  slender  point;  in  the  common  form  their  average 
breadth  at  the  base  is  half  to  three-fourths  of  an  inch,  but  in 
var.  incision  they  are  often  fully  two  inches  broad  at  the  base. 
Their  length  is  from  three  or  four  inches  in  the  common 
form  to  six  or  seven  inches  in  the  largest  specimens  I  have 
seen.  The  midrib  of  the  pinUcX  is  always  more  or  less  winged, 
so  that  the  pinnae  may  be  said  to  be  pinnatifid,  and  the  seg- 
ments to  be  connected  by  a  narrow  wing. 

The  shape  of  the  segments  differs  in  the  several  varieties ; 
in  the  type  they  are  very  close  together,  oblong,  with  a 
rounded  apex,  and  not  very  deeply  toothed:  in  var.  paieaccum 
they  are  also  closely-placed,  and  oblong,  but  mostly  truncate 
at  the  apex;  and  in  var.  incisum  they  are  much  larger  and 
less  closely-placed,  ovate-lanceolate  in  shape,  and  incised  with 
toothed  lobes  along  the  sides. 

The  veins  are  free,  and  are  forked  or  alternately  divided 


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316 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


into  from  two  to  five  veinlets.  The  sori  are  rather  large, 
placed  nearer  the  midvein  than  the  margin,  and  ire  rarely 
produced  towards  the  apex  of  the  segments. 

The  indusium  is  orbicular-reniform,  and  almost  always 
smooth.  Its  edges  are  turned  downward,  enclosing  the  spor- 
angia, when  they  are  young,  and  sometimes  this  convexity  is 
permanent.  Rarely  the  sinus  is  so  deep  that  the  indusium 
at  last  becomes  divided.  The  spores  are  ovoid,  and  have  a 
muricately   roughened   surface. 

The  rhizomes  have  been  used  for  ages  as  an  anthel- 
mintic, but  probably  have  no  greater  virtue  in  this  direction 
than   those  of  many  ether  common   species. 

Plate  XLI. — Aspidium  Filix-mas,  var.  incisum.  The  figure  is  re- 
duced one-third,  atu'.  is  taken  from  one  of  Mrs.  Roy's  fine  Canadian 
specimens.  Other  fronds  from  the  same  locality  show  the  incising  of 
the  segments  in  a  much  greater  degree.  At  the  top  of  the  plate  are 
two  segments  enlarged,  one  from  the  base  and  the  other  from  the 
middle  of  the  same  pinna.    The  indusium  is  also  represented. 


^^f    •* 


I 


'  E  !ux.!i.  I- 


Anr.Hl!w;A.Cy  U\h  Po^t 


P!; 


1 


h   f 


l.ifh  f-'ost  .n 


FERNS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


317 


j 


Plate  XLII.  —  Fig.   1-3. 

POLYPODIUM   PECTINATUM,  Linn^us. 

Comb-leaved   Polypody. 

PoLYi-ODiUM   PECTINATUM:  — Root-Stock  stout,  elongated, 
moderately   chaffy  and  often   ferruginous-tomentose;   stalks   a 
few  inches  to  nearly  a  foot  long,  rigid,  blackened  and   puber- 
ulent;   frc' '    one  to  three  feet  long,  two  to  five  inches  wide, 
linear-lanceolate,  somewhat   curved   and   elastic  when  dry,  pin- 
natifid  almost  to  the  midrib;  segments  very  numerous,  spread- 
ing, one  to  three  inches  long,  two  to  four  lines  wide,  gradually 
tapering  from  a  dilated   base   to   a   narrow   but  obtuse  apex, 
usually  entire;    midvein   ctrong,   blackish;   veins   dark  at   the 
base;  veinlets  three  or  four  in  each  group,  pellucid  and  nearly 
invisible,  normally  free;   sori   often    slightly  oval,   placed  in  a 
single  row  each  side  the  midvein   about  half  way  between  it 
and  the  margin;   spores   ovoid-reniform,  yellowish,  the  surface 
finely  pustulated. 

Polypodiuvt  pectinatuvt,  Linn^us,  Sp.  PI.,  p.  1545.  — Svvartz,  Syn.  Fil., 
p.  34.— WiLLDENOw,  Sp.  PI.,  V,  p.  180.  — Eatox,  Fil.  Wright, 
ct  Fendl.,  p.  198.  — Hooker,  Garden  Ferns,  t.  10;  Sp.  Fil., 
iv,  p.  203.— Grisebach,  F1.  Brit.  W.  I.  Islands,  p.  699.— 
Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  333. 

***  The  following  names  are  referred   to   this  species  by  Hooker, 
and  I  do  not  see  how  they  can  be  separated  from  it;   but  it  should   be 


3'8 


FERNS   OF    NORTH   AMERICA. 


remarked  that  Meitenius  and  Fournier  keep  them  distinct,  and  that  the 
latter  author  is  of  the  opinion  that  our  Tern  is  not  the  plant  LinN/EUS 
had  in  view. 

Poiypodiiim    Otitcs,    Linx.eus.    Sp.    PI.,   p.    1545. — Swaktz,    Syn.    Fil., 

p.  34. — WiLLDEXow,  Sp.  PI.,  p.   177. 
Polypodium  Panidisccc,  Langsdouff  &  Fishcher,  Ic.  Fil.,  p.   11,  t.   11. — 

Wu-LDENow,  Sp.    PI.,  V,  p.   179.  —  Metienius,  Fil.    Hort.    Lips., 

p.    31;     Polypodium,    p.    60. — Eaton,    Fil.   Wright,   et   Fendl., 

p.   198. 
Polypodium    consimilc,    Mettenius,    in    Eaton,    Fil.    Wright,    et    Fendl., 

p.    19S;    "Prod.  I'l.   Nov.-Gran.,  p.   61." — Fournier,  PI.   Max., 

Crypt.,  p.  76. 
Goniophlcbium  pcctinatum,  J.  Smith,  Bot.  Voy.  Herald,    p.  230  (a   form 

with  the  veinlets  anastomosing  in  paracostal  areoles). 
Polypodium  nigrum,  tcnuius  scclum,  Plu.mier,  Fil.  Am.,  p.  64,  t.  83. 

Had. — vSouthern  Ilorida;  near  Enterprise,  Mr.  C.  E.  Faxon,  at 
Manatee,  Dr.  A.  P.  Gaubkk.'  Very  common  in  West  Indies,  Mexico, 
and  South  America  as  far  as  Brazil  and   Paraguay. 

Description:  —  The  root-stock  is  creeping,  fleshy  in  the 
living  plant,  covered  near  the  growing  end  with  very  narrow 
slender-pointed  scales,  which  are  often  in  turn  concealed  by 
an  abundant   growth   of  entangled   cinnamon-colored    flattened 

I  "  In  tliis  locality  it  is  restricted  to  a  small  area  of  high  banks  of  a  stream  in  a 
hummock  draininj^  a  series  of  ponds.  The  soil  is  mostly  clay  intermixed  with  a  small  per 
cent,  of  sand  and  vegetable  matter.  On  the  sides  of  tlic  hi^h  banks  and  ncitr  the  water's 
edge,  apparently  in  pure  clay  and  rocks,  tiic  fronds  arc  narrower,  more  rigiil  and  erect, 
while  upon  the  banks  and  a  little  distance  from  the  water  they  arc  wider,  flaccid,  and  gen- 
erally reclining.  All  the  fronds  appeared  fertile,  and  measured  2  to  4  inches  in  width,  and 
1-2  to  3  feet  in  length."  —  Dr.  Garber,  in  Botanical  Gazette,  Oct.,  1S7S,  p.  82. 


FERNS   OF    NORTH    AMERICA. 


319 


hairs.  The  stalks  arc  borne  on  the  upper  side  alternately  in 
a  double  row,  and  leave,  after  they  have  fallen  off,  very  dis- 
tinct cup-like  scars.  The  stalks  are  from  one  to  two  lines 
thick,  and  from  two  inches  to  nearly  a  foot  long,  rigid,  terete, 
and  nearly  black  in  color,  but  lustreless.  They  are  pubcrulent 
with  slender  whitish  or  rusty  hairs,  and  are  bordered  by  a 
very  narrow  herbaceous  wing  on  each  side  for  a  considerable 
distance  below  the  proper  beginning  of  the  frond.  The  ex- 
terior sheath  of  the  sclerenchyma  is  very  hard  and  thick,  and 
the  contents  much  shrivelled  in  dried  stems,  but  by  taking  a 
very  young  frond  a  satisfactory  section  of  the  stalk  can  be 
made,  and  then  about  five  isolated  slender  fibro-vascular  bun- 
dles may  be  seen. 

The  fronds  are  usually  much  elongated,  and  are  narrowly 
linear-lanceolate  in  outline.     Usually  the   lower  pinn.-e  or  seg- 
ments   are   gradually   reduced    in    length    until    the    lowest    of 
them  are    merely  slight   dilations   of   the  narrow  wing  of   the 
stalk.     The  middle   segments   are   much   dilated   at   the   base, 
and    usually  more    so    on    the    upper    side   than  on  the  lower. 
In  one  of   Dr.  Garber's  largest  specimens   there   are    seventy- 
five  segments  on  each  side,  the  largest  of   them    three  inches 
long,  and  having  a  breadth  at  the  base  of  half  an  inch,  which 
is  immediately  contracted    to  a  quarter  of   an  inch,  and   '.hen 
gradually  narrows  to  the  end.    The  segments  arc  usually  enllic, 
but  are  pinnately  lobed  in  some  Cuban  fronds,  and  in  one  from 
Miss  Reynolds.     The  color  of  the  segments  in  the  living  plant 
and  in  well-preserved  specimens  is  a  good  herbaceous  green; 


I1 


320 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


but  most  herbarium  specimens,  having  been  less  carefully 
dried,  turn  to  a  dull  olive-green,  or  even  almost  black. 

The  rigid  midrib,  the  niidvcins  and  the  bases  of  the  veins 
are  purplish-black,  but  the  veinlcts  are  of  the  same  color  as 
the  parenchyma,  and  are  therefore  extremely  difficult  to  see. 
The  veins  have,  as  in  most  Polypodia,  a  branch  on  the 
upper  side,  starting  close  to  the  midrib,  and  this  veinlet  is 
soriferous.  The  lower  branch  is  again  forked,  or  sometimes 
divided  into  three  veinlets,  which  run  nearly  to  the  edge  of 
the  segment.  In  the  form  which  Mr.  John  Smith  referred 
to  Goniophlebium  these  upper  veinlets  unite  at  their  tips, 
and  form  a  series  of  areoles  enclosing  the  sori.  This  form 
I  have  from  Panama;  and,  according  to  Fournier,  something 
like  this  was  the  plant  figured  by  Plumier,  on  which  the 
Linna^an  P.  pectinatum  was  originally  founded.  But  Plu- 
mier neither  figures  the  veins,  nor  says  anything  about  them, 
and  his  whole  figure  and  description  so  well  accord  with  our 
plant  that  it  seems  best  to  follow  the  opinion  of  Swartz, 
Willdenow  and  Hooker,  who  all  considered  his  plant  to  be 
the  same  as   the  P.  pectinatum  of   their  own  writings. 

Polypodium  Plumula,  a  smaller  plant  than  the  present, 
long  known  as  existing  in  Florida,  will  be  figured  in  a  later 
Part  of  this  work,  and  the  distinctions  between  that  species 
and  this  one  will  then  be  pointed  out. 


Plate  XLIL  — Fi?.  i, 


ida.     F 


ig.  2  IS  an  en 


largcd 


Polypodiuvt  pectinatum, 
portion  of  a  pinna.     V 


from    Manatee,  Flor- 


'g-  3. 


a  s 


pore,  highly 


magni 


fied. 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


321 


Plate  XLII.  — Fig.  4-7. 

POLYPODIUM  PHYLLITIDIS,  Lixn.eus. 

Hart's-tongue  Polypody. 

PoLYPODiUM  PHYLLITIDIS :— Root-Stock  stout,  fleshy,  creep- 
ing, sparingly  chaffy  with  deciduous  rounded  or  cordate  scales ; 
fronds  almost  sessile,  one  to  three  feet  high,  linear-lanceolate, 
acute  at  the  apex,  very  gradually  narrowed  at  the  base,  en- 
tire or  slightly  sinuate,  firmly  chartaceous  or  sul>coriaceous, 
yellowish-green,  smooth  and  shining;  veins  diverging  from 
the  midrib  at  an  angle  of  about  sixty  degrees,  running  nearly 
straight  to  the  margin,  mostly  about  two  lines  apart,  more 
distant  below,  connected  by  from  six  to  twelve  series  of  an- 
gularly arched  transverse  veinlets,  from  the  outer  angles  of 
which  proceed  usually  two  short  simple  or  sometimes  forked 
free  soriferous  veinlets,  and  often  between  them  an  additional 
veinlet  connecting  successive  arcs;  sori  in  a  double  row  be- 
tween the  primary  veins,  commonly  placed  below  the  apex  of 
the  fruiting  veinlet. 

rolypodium  Phyllitidis,  Linn^us,  Sp.  PI.,  p.  1543.  — Swartz,  Syn.  Fil, 
p.  28.  — WiLLDi-xow,  Sp.  PL,  V,  p.  157.  — Mettenius,  Fil.  Hort. 
Lips.,  p.  34;  Polypodium,  p.  83.— Eatox,  in  Chapman's  Flora, 
p.  588.  — Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  v,  p.  38.  — Hooker  &  Rakek,  Syn. 
Fil.,  p.  34S. — Garber,  in  Dot.  Gazette,  iii.  p.  83. 


322 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


Polypodium  rcpcns,  Mettenius,  Fil.  Hort.  Lips.,  p.  34,  t.  xxiv,   f.   1,2. — 

Kaion,  Fil.  Wright,  ct  Fcndl.,  p.   199. 
Campyloncuron   P/iyllttidis,    Presi.,   Tent.    Pt«-itl.,    p.     190.  —  Link,    Fil. 

Hort.  Bcrol.,  p.   124.  —  F^e,  nine  Mem.,  p.  69.  —  Fournier,  PI. 

Mc.x.,  Crypt.,  p.  85. 
Campyloncuron  Aloritzianum,  F"f:E,  Gen.  Fil.,  p.  25S. 
Campyloncuron  latum,  Mooke,  Index  I'il.,  p.  225. 
Cyrtoplilcbium  Phyllitiilis,  J.  Smith,  "in  Jour.   Bot.,  iv,  p.  58 
Cyrtophlebium  nitidum,  Brackenriixie,  Fil.  of  U.  S.  Expl.  Expod.,  p.  39. 
Lingua    Ccrvina  longis  angustis  ct  undnlatis  foliis  major,  Pi.umiicr,  Fil. 

Amor.,  p.   114,  t.   130. 
Lingua    Ccrvina    multijido   cacuminc   laciniata,    Plumier,    1.   c,    p.     115, 

t.   131.' 

Hah.  —  South  Florida,  many  collectors;  noticed  near  Indian  River 
and  at  Biscayne  Bay  by  Dr.  Palmer,  on  stumps,  etc.,  in  cypress  swamps 
on  the  Caloosa-hatchic,  by  Messrs.  J.  Donnei.l  Smith  and  C.  V.  Austin, 
and  in  several  places  in  Dade  and  Manatee  Counties,  by  Dr.  Gariier, 
who  says  the  root-stocks  are  commonly  lodged  in  the  decaying  trunks 
of  prostrate  trees,  or  in  old  stumps  near  the  ground,  and  sometimes 
on  the  ground  where  the  soil  consists  chiefly  of  decomposing  vege- 
table matter.  The  fern  is  found  abundantly  in  the  West  Indies,  in 
Mexico,  Central  America  and  in  South  America  as  far  as  Brazil. 

Description:  —  The  root-stock  of  this  fern  is,  when  fresh, 


•  Phimicr's  plate  134  represents  a  closcly-.nllicd  plant  with  a  long  and  comparatively 
slender  rliizonia.  On  this  was  founded  P.  repcns  o{  Swartz,  which  llookor  and  Raker 
have  regarded  as  a  distinct  species,  but  which  Fournier  considers  a  variety  of  /'.  I'/iyl/iti- 
dis.  If  Fendler's  Venezuelan  229  and  230  are  the  true  P.  rcpcns  there  can  be  no  doubt 
i.hat  it  is  a  good  species. 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


323 


nearly  as  thick  as  one's  finger,  several  inches  Jong,  fleshy, 
covered  with  cinnamon-brown  tomentosc  rootlets,  and  marked 
on  the  upper  surface  with  a  double  row  of  crowded  cup-like 
scars.  The  fronds  to  the  number  of  six  to  twelve,  according 
to  Dr.  Garber,  but  "  often  twenty  or  more,"  as  observed  by 
Messrs.  Smith  and  Austin,  stand  very  close  together  on  the 
newer  part  of  the  root-stock.  The  stalk  is  very  short,  being 
never  more  than  two  or  three  inches  long,  and  often  much 
less.  It  is  rather  stout,  and  green  in  the  living  plant.  At 
the  very  base,  and  ou  the  root-stock,  are  a  few  fuscous  scales, 
usually  rounded  and  cordate,  but  sometimes  pointed.  These 
soon  fall  away,  leaving  the  root-stock  bare,  until  it  is  covered 
by  the  interlacing  roots.  The  transverse  section  is  rounded 
at  the  back  and  discloses  three  furrows  on  the  front,  the  mid- 
dle furrow  broader  than  the  others.  The  ridges  which  are 
outside  of  the  lateral  furrows  become  more  and  more  promi- 
nent higher  up  the  stalk,  and  so  pass  very  gradually  into  the 
long  decurrent  margins  of  the  frond.  Within  the  stalk  are 
two  rather  large  fibro-vascular  bundles  just  beneath  the  sides 
of  the  middle  furrow,  and  back  of  them  about  seven  much 
smaller  bundles  arranged  in  a  semicircle. 

The  fronds  sent  by  Dr.  Garber  vary  from  less  than  an 
inch  long,  in  seedling  plants,  to  others  nearly  three  feet  long 
and  over  two  inches  wide  in  the  middle.  These  measure- 
ments are  sometimes  exceeded  in  exotic  specimens:  I  have 
one  frond  from  the  province  of  Huasteca  in  Mexico,  collected 
by  Ervendberg,  which  is  fully  four  and  a  quarter  inches  wide 


324 


I'liUNS   1)1'    NORTH   AMURICA. 


in  the  widest^  place.  The  apex  of  the  frond  narrows  gradually 
to  a  point,  but  is  seldom  fairly  acuminate.  From  about  the 
middle,  or  a  short  distance  below  the  middle,  the  frond  tapers 
gradually  to  the  base,  and  passes  into  the  stalk  by  such  in- 
sensible degrees  that  it  is  impossible  to  say  where  the  stalk 
ceases  and  the  blade  begins.  The  substance  of  the  frond  is 
thin,  but  rigid,  having  almost  the  consistence  of  parchment. 
It  is  smooth  and  glossy  on  both  surfaces.  The  color  of  the 
living  fronds  is  said  by  Dr.  Garber  to  be  yellowish-green,  and 
he  notices  a  translucency  which  is  mostly  lost  in  drying. 

A  monstrosity  having  fronds  with  laciniately  multifid 
apices  is  occasionally  seen  in  cultivation.  Mr.  Wright  collected 
a  few  such  specimens  in  Cuba,  and  Plumier's  plate  131  rep- 
resents the  same  thing. 

The  midrib  is  straight  and  strong,  flat  or  slightly  furrowed 
above,  and  very  prominent  beneath.  Owing  to  the  rigidity 
of  the  whole  frond,  and  especially  of  the  midrib,  the  fronds 
stand  very  erect  and  straight,  and  have  nothing  of  the  grace- 
fully recurved  appearance  which  is  seen  in  Asplcnitim  scyratum 
(see  page  18  of  this  work).  The  margins  of  the  frond  are 
lightly  undulated,  and  the  very  edge  is  thickened,  thereby  in- 
creasing the  rigidity  ff   the  frond. 

The  primary  veins  i.re  exceedingly  numerous  and  very 
conspicuous.  They  •^livorge  obliquely  from  tne  midrib,  and 
run  nearly  straight  almost  to  the  edge  of  the  frond.  As  in 
the  other  species  of  the  section  Campyloncuron,  the  primary 
veins  are  connected  by  arched  veinlets,  which  emit  from  their 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


325 


!• 


outer  side  several  ray-like  veinlets.  In  the  present  species 
the  middle  ray  is  generally  continued  to  the  next  arch,  and 
so  the  primary  areoles  are  divided  by  a  veinlct  parallel  to 
the  main  veins  and  between  them,  but  more  or  less  interrupted 
in  its  course,  and  never  extending  down  to  the  midrib.  The 
other  rays  are  shorter,  and  cither  simple  or  forked,  the  ends 
being  free  and  slightly  enlarged;  this  enlarged  end  is  often 
marked  on  the  upper  surface  of  the  frond  by  a  minute  dot, 
either  blackish  or  white  and  chalk-like.  Below  the  end  these 
rays  bear  rather  large  rounded  fruit-dots,  generally  two  in 
each  primary  areole.  Rarely,  the  radial  veinlets  are  so  irregu- 
lar that  the  space  between  the  arches  is  cut  up  into  numer- 
ous undefinable  polygons.  Something  of  this  may  be  seen 
in  plate  XXIV  of  the  work  on  the  Ferns  of  the  Lcipzic 
Garden  by  Dr.   Mettenius. 

The  spores  of  this  fern  are  oblong-ovoid,  or  slightly 
reniform,  and  marked  with  a  single  vitta. 

The  species  of  the  section  Campylonetiron  are  few  in 
number.  Those  admitted  by  Hooker  and  Baker  are  P.  ongus- 
tifolmm,  P.  lucicinm,  P.  sphcnodcs,  P.  coarctatiun,  P.  Iccvigatum, 
P.  repens,  P.  P/iyllitidis,  P.  dcctirrens  and  P.  Fendleri.  The 
last  two  have  pinnate  fronds:  all  the  others  have  more  or 
less  elongated  simple  fronds.  All  are  American,  none  of  the 
section  having  ever  been  discovered  in  any  part  of  the  Old 
World.  In  the  narrowest  forms  the  peculiar  venation  is  not 
so  clearly  evident  as  in  the  broader  ones,  and  shows  some- 
thing  of   a  transition   to   that  of   Goniophleb'mm.     But  on  the 


326 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


whole  the  group  is  very  natural,  and  is  maintained  as  a  genus 
by  Foamier,  although  he  rejects  Goniophlebium  and  Lepicystis. 
Phyllitis  is  an  ancient  name  of  the  Hart's-tongue,  and 
the  specific  name  given  to  the  present  fern  by  Linnaeus  refers 
to  the  similar  shape  of  the  fronds  of  the  two  species. 

Plate    XLIL  — Fig.    4-7.      Polypodium  Phyllitidis.  Fig.   4  is    a 

frond  of  the  natural  size,  collected  by  Dr.  Garber.     Fig.  5  is  a  seedling 

plant.     Fig.  6  is  a  portion  of  a  frond  somewhat  enlarged,  and  showing 
the  venation.     Fig.  7  is  a  spore,  highly  magnified. 


■ 


pAb: 


* » 


4^: 


r\ 


.  ..^r:^^!!^  Si.  Co  i.lth  BU  ii  ■.: 

i-:NEHA,   Gillie.-. 


r  \ 


■■  t. 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


327 


Plate  XLIII.— Fig.   1-4. 

PELL^A  BRIDGESII,  Hooker. 

Bridges's  Cliff-Brake. 

Pell^a  BRIDGESII :_  Root-stock  short,  creeping,  densely 
chaffy  with   narrow   scales;   stalks   three   to  six   inches   long 
clustered,  terete,   wiry,  dark-reddish-brown,   smooth   and   shin- 
ing; fronds  as   long  as   the   stalks,  linear-oblong,  simply  pin- 
nate;  pinn^  five   to  eighteen   pairs,   mostly   opposite,  nearly 
sessile,  glaucous-green,  coriaceous;    sterile    ones  orbicular  or 
sub<ordate,  four  to  five  lines  long,  rarely  larger;   fertile  ones 
a  httle  narrower,  commonly  at  first  conduplicate  and  so  seem- 
ingly lunate;   involucre   narrow,  formed  of  the   whitish   carti- 
laginous margin  of  the  pinnae,  soon  flattened  out  and  exposing 
a  very  broad  intramarginal  band  of  sporangia. 
Pe//.a  Bridgcsii,  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  ii,  p.  238.  iii,  t.  cxlii,  i?.- Hooker 
&  Baker,  Syn.  Fil..  p.   isi.-Eaton,  Ferns  of  the  South-West 
P-  323- 

Hab. -Clefts  of  rocks  in  the  Sierra  of  California,  usually  above 
the  elevation  of  6,000  feet.  Discovered  by  Thomas  Brxooes,  and 
since  collected  by  Professor  Brewer  at  Ebbett's  Pass  (8,000  to  0000 
feet  elevation),  in  Silver  Valley  and  in  the  Yosemite  Valley;  by  William 
LOBB,  the  station  not  recorded;  by  Mr.  Bomnder  near  the  Mariposa 
Sequoia  Grove;  by  Dr.  Torrev  among  n^ountains  near  the  Yosemite 
Valley,  etc.,  etc. 


328 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


Description: — This  fern  grows  in  tufts  formed  of  many 
creeping  and  entangled  root-stocks,  uhich  are  very  heavily 
clothed  with  very  nanow  linear-acuminate  scales.  These 
scales  have  a  ferruginous  color,  mostly  due  to  a  strong  mid- 
nerve  which  is  found  in  nearly  all  of  them.  The  stalks  are 
densely  clustered  on  the  root-stocks,  and  are  mostly  about  five 
inches  long,  round,  rigid,  d.irk-reddish-brown  in  color,  having 
?,  mod:*',  te  degree  of  lustre,  and  are  devoid  of  chaff  except 
at  t  •  base.     The  greater  part  of   the  stalks   remain   at- 

tached to  the  root-stock  long  after  the  fronds  have  disappeared. 
A  >',ct:on  of  ^he  stem  shows  on  the  exterior  a  single  layer 
of  niinutc  lirrn-walled  cells,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  paren- 
chyma a  well  defined  circle  of  sclerenchyma,  within  which  is 
a  single  horse-shoe-shaped  fibro-vascular  bundle.  The  frond  is 
from  three  to  six  inches  long,  and  rarely  over  three-fourths 
of  an  inch  wide.  It  consists  of  a  terminal  pinna  and  from 
five  to  eighteen  pairs  of  lateral  pinnae,  the  upper  ones  and 
the  lowest  but  very  little  smaller  than  the  rest,  all  attached 
by  very  short  plum-colored  or  reddish-brown  petioles  to  a  ra- 
chis  which  is  like  the  stalk  in  all  its  characters. 

The  pinnae  are  almost  coriaceous  in  texture,  perfectly 
smooth,  and  of  a  pale  glaucous-green,  certainly  in  dried  plants. 
The  sterile  pinnae  are  orbicular  with  a  slightly  heart-shaped 
base,  which  often  somewhat  encloses  the  rachis:  they  are 
usually  about  four  lines  in  diameter  and  length,  but  occasion- 
ally are  found  fully  twice  this  size.  The  fertile  pinnae  are  as 
long  as  the  others,  but  commonly  a   little  narrower,  so  as   to 


l___l_. 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


329 


be   cordate-ovate   in   shape.     They  arc  almost  always   folded 
longitudinally,  so  that  the  two  sides  have  their  under  surfaces 
closely  applied  together,  and  they  are  then  slightly  curved  up- 
wards along  the  midvein,  giving  them  something  of  a  crescent- 
like shape.     The  veins,  of  which  there  are  from  eight  to  twelve 
pairs   in  a   pinna,   diverge   angularly  from    the    midvein,    and 
curve  outwardly.     They  are  dichotomously  forked  three  or  four 
times,  so   that  the  veinlets   near  the   margin   are   very  close 
together— not  the   hundredth   part  of  an   inch  apart.      Here 
and  there  the  veinlets  are  seen   to   anastomose  angularly,  es- 
pecially near  the  midvein,  less   regularly  so,  however,  than  in 
the  two  species  composing   Mr.  Bakers   section  Holcochlcena. 
The  sporangia  form  linear  sori  on  the  upper  part  of  the 
veinlets,  often   descending  as   far  as   the   last  forking  of  the 
veinlets.     As  the  veinlets  are  so  very  close  together,  the  sori 
collectively  form  a  broad  intramarginal  band  of  fructification. 
The  margin  of  the  pinnae  is  thin,  wrinkled,  white  and  carti- 
laginous,  and   is   at   first   so  reflexed  as   partly  to  cover  the 
sporangia,  but  it  is  soon  flattened  out.    The  spores  are  nearly 
globular,   roughened,  and  faintly  trivittate. 

A  thing  which  has  escaped  notice  hitherto  is  the  presence 
on  the  back  of  the  frond,  especially  between  the  lines  of 
sporangia,  of  a  little  of  the  same  yellowish  ceraceous  powder 
which  is  characteristic  of  the  section  Cincinalis  of  Notholcena, 
and  of  certain  species  of  Clieilanthes  and  Gymnogramme.  In- 
deed the  very  scantily  reflexed  involucre  would  seem  to  indicate 
that   the  plant  would  be  quite  as  well   placed   in   Notholcena 


m, 


m 


330 


FERNS   OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


as  in  Pellcea,  a  genus  in  which,  I  believe,  no  other  species 
with  farinaceous  fronds  have  as  yet  been  placed.  But  the 
fern  most  nearly  resembling  this  one  is  Pellcea  roiundi/olia, 
of  New  Zealand,  a  plant  with  taller  fronds,  equally  rounded 
pinnse,  and  a  shaggy-paleaceous  stalk  and  rachis.  I  am  con- 
tent, therefore,  to  leave  this  fern  in  Pellcea,  section  Platyloma, 
where  it  is  placed  in  Synopsis  Filicum. 

Plate  XLIII.  —  Fig.  1-4.  Pel/tea  Bridgesii,  a  specimen  from  the 
Mariposa  Grove  collected  by  Mr.  Bolander.  Fig.  2  is  an  enlarged 
pinna.  Fig.  3  is  a  portion  of  a  pinna  more  highly  magnified,  and 
showing  the  margin  partly  reflexed.     Fig.  4,  a  spore. 


mm 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


331 


Plate  XLIII.  — Fig.  5-8. 

PELLyEA  BREWERI,  D.  C.  Eaton. 

Brewer's  Cliff-Brake. 

Pell^a  Breweri:— Root-stock  ascending,  short,  stout, 
very  chaffy  with  narrow  linear-acuminate  fulvous  scales ;  stalks 
crowded,  two  to  four  inches  long,  terete,  very  fragile,  bright- 
brown,  chaffy  only  at  the  base;  fronds  as  long  as  the  stalks, 
oblong,  pinnate;  pinnae  six  to  twelve  pairs,  short-petioled, 
membranaceous,  half  to  three-fourths  of  an  inch  long,  mostly 
two  parted,  the  upper  lobe  largest;  lobes  and  simple  upper 
pinnae  ovate  or  triangular-ovate,  cuneate  and  often  sub-cordate 
at  the  base;  veins  free,  curving  outwards,  twice  or  thrice 
forked;  sporangia  at  the  ends  of  the  veins,  covered  by  a  del- 
icate continuous  involucre. 

Pellaa  Breweri,  Eaton,  in  Proceed.  Amer.  Acad.,  vi,  p.  555;  Botany  of 
U.  S.  Geol.  Expl.  of  40th  Parallel,  p.  395,  t.  xl,  fig.  i;.— 
Hooker  &  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  145, 

Hab.— Common  in  the  clefts  of  exposed  rocks  in  the  higher  can- 
ons of  the  Sierra  of  California,  and  thence  eastward  to  the  East  Hum- 
boldt Mountains  and  the  Wahsatch ;  also  found  near  Loma  in  Colorado, 
near  the  Rio  Grande.  First  collected  in  1863  by  Professor  W.  H. 
.Brewer  near  Sonora  Pass,  at  7,000  to  8,000  feet  elevation,  and  after- 
wards in   Ebbett's  Pass  at  the  same  altitude.     Mono  Pass,  at  9,000  to 


332  FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 

10,000  feet  elevation,  Bolander.     East  Humboldt   Mountains,  Watsov. 

Wahsatch  Range,  Watson,  Eaton.     Loma,  Loew. 

Description:  —  In  its  habit  of  growth  this  little  fern  is 
very  much  like  the  last;  it  is  about  the  same  size,  it  grows 
in  similar  places,  and  the  root-stocks  are  similarly  condensed 
and  very  chaffy,  but  the  scales  are  longer  and  have  a  brighter 
color;  they  are  more  crisped  and  much  softer,  and  have  no  ves- 
tige of  a  midnerve.  The  stalks  arc  very  numerous  and  densely 
crowded;  they  are  terete,  wiry,  bright-brown  and  lustrous,  but 
they  are  marked,  in  herbarium  specimens  at  least,  with  many 
little  transverse  depressions,  or  incipient  cracks,  so  that  they 
are  extremely  fragile.  They  commonly  break  off  about  an 
inch  from  the  root-stock,  leaving  their  lower  portion  for  a 
long  time  adherent  to  the  latter.  They  are  chaffy  only  at 
the  very  base,  the  scales  being  similar  to  those  of  the  root- 
stock.  The  transverse  section  shows  a  single  central  fibro- 
vascular  bundle  something  the  shape  of  the  expanded  wings 
of  a  butterfly,  surrounded  by  a  very  thin  layer  of  scleren- 
chyma. 

The  frond  is  usually  about  four  inches  long,  and  a  little 
more  than  an  inch  wide,  but  some  specimens  have  fronds  a 
little  smaller  than  this,  and  now  and  then  one  is  seen  consid- 
erably larger.  The  frond  consists  of  a  rachis  like  the  stalk 
in  color  and  fragility,  and  of  several  pairs  of  pinnas,  commonly 
about  nine  pairs,  besides  the  terminal  pinna.  The  terminal 
pinna  and  a  few  of  those  nearest  it  are  triangular-ovate,  entire 
and  almost  sessile  by  a  contracted  base:   the   lower  pairs  are 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA.  333 

more  and  more  distinctly  two-lobed,  the  upper  lobe  very 
much  larger  than  the  lower  one  in  the  middle  pinn.x-  and 
considerably  larger  in  the  lower  pinnae.  In  a  few  little  fronds 
from  Loma  the  lower  two  or  three  pairs  of  pinncie  have  three 
or  four  'obes,  the  middle  or  terminal  lobe  the  largest.  When 
three-lobed,  the  pinnae  are  hastate;  when  four-lobed  there  arc 
two  lateral  lobes  on  the  inferior  side  and  one  on  the  supe- 
rior. The  pinnaj  are  bright-green  in  color,  and  thinly  mem- 
branaceous in  texture,  much  thinner  than  in  Pclhca  Biidgcsii, 
P.  andmnedcrfolia  and  P.  flcxuosa,  though  not  so  delicate  as 
in  P.  gracilis. 

The  veins  are  pinnately  arranged  along  the  sides  of  a 
rather  delicate  and  slightly  flexuous  midvein ;  they  fork  twice 
or  three  times,  and  the  veinlets  curve  gradually  more  and 
more  away  from  the  midvein,  until  they  terminate  just  at  the 
edge  of  the  pinna  in  the  sterile  fronds,  or  just  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  delicate,  whitish  and  conspicuous  involucre  in  the 
fertile  ones. 

The  sporangia  grow  on  the  veins,  just  at  their  tips;  at 
first  they  are  covered  by  the  involucre,  but  when  fully  ripe 
they  often  extend  a  very  little  beyond  its  reach.  The  spores 
are  nearly  globose,  and  have  three  faint  radiating  vittc-e. 

Among  American  ferns  this  species  comes  nearer  to  Pel- 
leva  gracilis  than  to  any  other,  but  has  a  stout  root-stock,  a 
far  heavier  stalk  and  rachis,  diff-reutly  shaped  and  differently 
compounded  fronds,  and  veins  placed  very  much  closer  to- 
gether.   Pelleea  auriculata,   from   Cape   Colony,   is   perhaps  a 


334 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


nearer  ally,  but  in  that  species,  too,   the   pinncie  arc   usually 
symmetrically  lobed  and  the  veins  less  crowded. 

Chcibpiccton  was  a  genus   proposed   by  Fee  (  Al^ni., 

P-  2>'^  for  the  Mexican  Pteris  rigida  of  Swartz.  It  differed 
"  from  Ptcfis  in  the  absence  of  a  receptacle,  froni  the  PcUccas 
in  having  convoluted  and  veiny  margins,  and  from  Clicilanthes 
in  appearance,  consistence,  and  the  shortness  of  the  sori,  which 
are  hidden  under  the  infolded  margins."  This  name  Chcilo- 
piccton  was  taken,  by  the  authors  of  Synopsis  Filicum,  for  the 
name  of  a  section  of  Pellcca,  characterized  by  an  herbaceous 
or  subcoriaceous  texture,  clearly  visible  veins,  and  a  broad 
involucre,  which  in  most  of  the  species  is  rolled  over  the 
sorus  till  full  maturity.  To  this  section  are  referred  Pellcca 
atiriciilata,  Brcwcri,  Sccmamii,  gracilis,  pilosa,  colw  a,  ger- 
auicc/olia,  Taviburii,  ilcltoidca,  Skinneri,  rigida.  B  ^ne  of 
the  added  species  show  so  strongly  a  revolute  or  so  plainly  a 
striated  involucre  as  are  seen  in  Fee's  original  species,  and 
several  of  them  differ  very  much  in  habit  from  the  others; 
it  seems,  therefore,  most  probable  that  in  the  next  general 
revision  of  the  genus  some  new  arrangement  of  the  sections 
will  be  necessary. 

Plate  XLIII.  —  Fig.  5-8.  —  Pcllaa  Breweri,  from  Mono  Pass.  Fig. 
6  is  a  lower  pinna,  enlarged.  Fig.  7,  a  small  part  of  the  same  more 
highly  magnified.     Fig.  8,  a  spore. 


wmmmm 


FERNS   OF    NORTH   AMERICA. 


335 


Plate  XI.III.  — Tio.   9-13. 

NOTHOL/ENA  TENERA,  Gillies. 

Tender  Notholeena. 

NoTHOL/ENA  TENERA:  —  Root-stock  short,  "eroct,"  chaffy 
with  narrow  linear-acuminate  ferruginous  scales;  sialics  tufted, 
wiry,  brownish,  smooth  and  shining;  fronds  (in  our  plant)  one 
to  four  inches  long,  oblong  or  the  larger  ones  ovate-pyramidal, 
once  to  thrice  pinnate ;  pinna?  mostly  opposite,  rather  distant, 
the  lowest  pair  usually  largest  and  most  compound;  ultimate 
pinnules  one  or  Uvo  lines  long,  ovate,  often  sul>cordate,  ob- 
tuse, smooth  and  naked  on  both  surfaces,  tender  and  herba- 
ceous, but  slightly  fleshy;  sporangia  borne  on  the  upper  part 
of  the  forked  veins,  sometimes  covering  the  greater  portion 
of  the  surface  of  the  pinnule. 

Notholcetia  tenera,  Gillies,  in  "Bot.  Mag.,  t.  3055." — Kunze,  Die 
Farrnkrauter,  i,  p.  44,  t.  xxii,  2.  —  Hooker,  Gen.  Fil.,  t.  l.wvi, 
A;  Sp.  Fil.,  V,  p.  122.  —  Br.\ckenridge,  Fil.  of  U.  S.  Expl. 
Exped.,  p.  20.  —  Mettenius,  Fil.  Hort.  Lips.,  p.  46. — Hooker 
&  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  373.  — Eaton,  Ferns  of  tlie  South- 
West,  p.  309. 

Cincinalis  tcncra.  Fee,  Gen.  Fil.,  p.  160. — J.  Smith,  Ferns,  Brit,  and 
Foreign,  p.  178. 

Gymnogramnie  tcncra,  Mettenius,  Cheilanthes,  p.  7. 

Hab.  —  Crevices  of  perpendicular    rocks    in    Southern    Utah,   Dr. 
Parry,  May,  1874,  Dr.  Palmer,  1877.    Chili,  Bolivia  and  Peru. 


336 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


Description:  —  The  root-stocks  are  very  short,  ascending 
or  erect,  and  chaffy  with  very  narrow  slender-pointed  ferrugi- 
nous scales  destitute  of  midnerve.  The  stalks  aiC  sometimes 
several  inches  long,  especially  in  the  specimens  collected  near 
Obrajillo  in  Peru  by  the  botanists  of  the  U,  S.  Exploring 
Expedition,  but  in  the  specimens  from  Utah  they  are  not 
more  than  two  inches  long,  sometimes  much  less.  They  are 
wiry,  dark-brown  or  almost  black,  smooth  and  shining,  though 
without  the  high  polish  of  the  stalks  of  most  Adianta.  The 
stalks  and  the  similar  rachis,  with  at  least  the  lowest  portion 
of  its  branchlets,  persist  long  after  the  pinnae  have  fallen 
off,  so  that  the  fronds  are  surrounded  by  a  bristling  mass  of 
old  stalks.  The  section  of  the  stalk  shows  a  solitary  central 
somewhat  triangular  fibro-vascular  bundle. 

The  fronds,  in  our  plant,  are  from  one  to  three  inches 
long.  The  fronds  of  the  smallest  plants  are  simply  pinnate, 
with  a  few  pairs  of  roundish  or  slightly  cordate  sterile  pin- 
nae about  two  lines  long  and  broad.  The  fronds  of  larger 
plants  are  narrowly  triangular-ovate  in  outline,  and  are  twice 
pinnate,  all  but  the  uppermost  pinnae  having  a  distinct  peti- 
ole of  the  same  rigid  character  and  dark  color  as  the  rachis. 
The  pinnae  are  mostly  divided  into  about  five  ovate  or  sub- 
cordate  pinnules  from  one  to  two  lines  long.  In  the  lowest 
pinnc-e  these  pinnules  show  a  tendency  to  become  again  divided. 
The  texture  of  the  pinnules  is  tender,  but  at  the  same  time 
rather  fleshy,  or  sub-coriaceous.  They  have  both  surfaces  per- 
fectly smooth,  and  the  color   is   a   full   herbaceous  green,  in- 


FERNS   OF    NORTH   AMERICA.  337 

dining  to  glaucous,  according  to  Kunze  and  Hooker.  The 
veins  are  rather  few,  and  are  once,  or  the  lower  ones  twice, 
forked,  the  veinlets  curving  outward  to  the  margins  of  the 
pinnules.  The  sporangia  are  seated  on  the  upper  part  of  the 
veinlets,  but  often  descend  so  far  towards  the  midvein  as  to 
give  the  plant  fully  as  much  the  character  of  Gymnogramme 
as  of  Not/iolatta.  The  green  margin  of  the  pinnules  ex- 
tends a  little  beyond  the  end  of  the  veinlets,  and  is  a  little 
thinner  than  the  middle  part  of  the  pinnules;  it  shows  a 
faint  tendency  to  be  reflexed  over  the  outermost  sporangia,  but 
is  by  no  means  a  true  involucre.  The  spores  are  globose 
and  faintly  trivittate. 

There  is  a  little  doubt  as  to  whether  the  specimens  sent 
from  Utah   by  Drs.  Parry  and  Palmer  can   be   fairly  referred 
to   the   South  American  A^.   fenem.     I   learn   from   Professor 
Gray  that  Mr.  Baker,  who  has   access  to   the  original   speci- 
mens collected  in   Chili   by  Dr.  Gillies,  thinks   that   they  can- 
not, and  it  is   with   no   little   hesitation    that    I    venture    to 
adhere  to  the  contrary  opinion.     I  have  not  seen   the   figures 
in  the  Botanical    Magazine,  and  the   specimens   I    have  from 
Chili  and    Peru   are   scanty.     But   they  are  taller  and   larger 
than  the  Utah   plant,  more   compound,  and  have  the  "ellipti- 
cal" pinnules  described  by  Hooker^  and  figured  in  his  Genera 
Filicum.     On  the  other  hand  our  plant  corresponds  very  well 
to   Kunze's   figures,  especially  to  that  marked  a  in    his   plate, 
where  v/e  see  one  of   the  fronds  simply  pinnate  with  cordate- 
ovate  very  slightly  hastate  pinnules,  almost  exactly  like  some 


338 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


of  the  Utah  specimens.  The  subcoriaceous,  yet  herbaceous 
and  tender  texture  of  the  pinnae  is  not  less  characteristic  of 
our  plant  than  of  the  Chilian,  and  the  sori,  sometimes  sub- 
marginal,  sometimes  descending  far  towards  the  midvein,  are 
the  same  in  both.  In  fact,  the  difference  is  just  about  the 
same  as  that  existing  between  the  Pellaa  pulchella  of  New 
Mexico  and  the  same  species  as  collected  in  Chiapas.  Notho- 
lana  tenera  is  confessedly  very  near  to  N.  nivea,  from  which 
it  differs  mainly  by  the  absence  of  ceraceous  powder  from 
the  under  surface  of  the  frond;  but  Hooker  found  traces  of 
the  powder  in  specimens  from  Bolivia,  and  has  expressed  a 
doubt  as  to  the  distinctness  of  the  two  species. 

Plate  XLIII. — Fig.  9-13.  Notholana  tenera.  The  plants  repre- 
sented are  all  from  Southern  Utah,  collected  by  Drs.  Parry  and  Palmer. 
Fig.   12  is  an  enlarged  pinnule.     Fig.  13,  a  spore. 


^4^ 


€t 


'm 


H' 


if: 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


339 


Plate  XLIV. 

DICKSONIA  PILOSIUSCULA,  Willdenow. 

Hay-scented  Fern;   Hairy  Dicksonia. 

DicKsoNiA  PILOSIUSCULA:  Root-stoclc  very  slender,  creep- 
ing, much  elongated;  stalks  scattered,  erect,  sometimes  a  foot 
long,  greenish  in  the  living  plant,  fading  to  brownish-straw- 
color,  slightly  puberulent ;  fronds  one  to  three  feet  long,  ovate- 
lanceolate  in  outline,  long-pointed,  delicately  herbaceous,  hairy 
and  minutely  glandular,  pinnate  or  almost  bipinnate";  pinna 
numerous,  lanceolate,  pointed,  the  second  pair  a  little  longer 
than  the  first;  pinnules  adnate  to  the  secondary  midrib,  and 
usually  decurrent  on  it,  rhomboid-ovate,  pinnatifid  into  oblong 
and  obtuse  cut-toothed  lobes;  sori  minute,  in  cup-like  involu- 
cres which  are  seated  on  minute  recurved  teeth,  usually  one 
at  the  upper  margin  of  each  lobe  of  the  pinnules. 

Dicksonia  pilosiuscula,  Willdenow,   "Enum.   PI.   Hort.   Berol.,  p.  1076; 

Sp.  Fil.,  V,  484.-PURSH.  Fl.  Am.  Sept..  ii,  p.  671.  — Hooker. 

Fl.  Bor.-Am.,  ii,  p.  264.— Torrey,  Fl.  New  York,  ii,  p.  502.— 

BiGELow,   Fl.    Boston.,   ed.    iii.    p.   424.— Wood.   Botanist  and 

Florist,  p.  376. 
Polypodium  pilosiusculum,  Muhlenberg  "  in  litt." 
Sitolobium  (or  Sitobolium)  pilosiusailum,  Desvaux,  "Prodr.,  p.  262." 
Adcctum  piiosiuscu/um,  Link,  Fil.  Hort.  Berol.,  p.  42. 


-I'l 


340 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


Dicksnnia  pubescens,  Swartz,  in  Schkuhr,  Krypt.  Gew.,  p.  125,  t.  131. — 
Presl,  Tent.  Pterid.,  p.  136. 

Dicksonia  punctiloba.  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  i,  p.  79.  —  Hooker  &  Baker, 
Syn.  Fil.,  p.  55.  — FiE,  Gen.  Fil.,  p.  355. 

Aspidium  punctilobum,  Willdenow,  Sp.  PI.,  v,  p.  279.  —  Pursh,  F1.  Am. 
Sept.,  ii,  p.  664. 

Sitolobium  pututilobum,  J.  Smith. 

Dicksonia  punctilobula.  Gray,  Manual,  ed.  i,  p.  629,  etc.  —  Kunze,  in 
Sill.  Journ.,  July,  1848,  p.  87;  in  Linnxa,  xxiii,  p.  249. — 
Darlington,  FI.  Ccstr.,  ed.  iii,  p.  394. — Mettenius,  Fil.  Hort. 
Lips.,  p.  105. — E.\T0N,  in  Chapman's  Flora,  p.  597. — William- 
son, Ferns  of  Kentucky,  p.   119,  t.  xlvi. 

Nephrodium  puncliiobulum,  Michaux,  F1.  Bor.-Am.,  ii,  p.  268. 

Aspidium  punctilobulum,  Swartz,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  60. 

Dennstadtia  punctilobula,  Moore,  Index  Fil.,  p.  xcvii,  307.  —  Lawson, 
in  Canad.  Nat.,  i,  p.  287. 

Hab.  —  Moist  woods,  and  often  in  low  grassy  places;  a  common 
fern  in  New  Brunswick,  Canada,  New  England  and  the  Middle  States 
extending  westward  to  Indiana,  and  possibly  farther,  and  southward  as 
far  as  Central  Alabama,  where  it  was  found  on  the  cliffs  of  the  Cohaba 
River  by  Professor  Eugene  A.  Smith.  It  is  not  mentioned  in  the  cat- 
alogues of  plants  of  Wisconsin,  nor  does  Professor  Harvey  report  it  as 
found  in  Arkansas.  It  is  probably  confined  to  Eastern  North  America, 
although  Kunze  claimed  to  have  specimens  from  the  West  Indies. 

Description  :  —  The  root-stock  creeps  extensively  an  inch 
or  two  below  the  surface  of  the  ground.  It  is  about  a  line 
and  a  half  or  two  lines  thick,  perfectly  round,  and  nearly 
naked,   bearing   instead   of    chaff    a  very  scanty  covering   of 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


34» 


slender  jointed  hairs  at  its  growing  extremity.  It  is  irregularly 
branched,  often  forked,  and  emits  long  and  slender  rootlets 
along  its  whole  extent.  The  section  shows  a  broad  exterior 
ring  of  light  brown  parenchyma;  inside  of  this  is  a  broad 
circle  of  minute  white  starch-cells,  then  the  scalariform  ves- 
sels in  a  narrow  ring,  bordered  by  other  minute  cells,  which 
are  most  probably  bast-cells;  inside  of  this  is  another  broad 
circle  of  the  starch-cells,  and  in  the  very  centre  is  a  roundish 
mass  of  brown  sclerenchyma.  The  whole  section  has  such  a 
regular  concentric  system  that  it  is  not  only  very  pretty  to 
look  at,  but  would  be  very  well  suited  for  anatomical  study  m 
the  class-room. 

The  stalks  are  seldom  more  than  two  or  three  to  a  root- 
stock,  and  rise  from  it  several  inches  back  of  its  apex.  In 
advance  of  them  may  be  seen  the  rudiments  of  next  year's 
stalks.  The  stalks  are  roundish  on  the  back  and  furrowed 
on  the  front.  They  are  not  articulated  to  the  root-stock,  but 
are  continuous  with  it.  Very  often  the  stalk  is  found  to  have 
a  short  branch  just  above  its  base.  This  branch  has  the 
structure  of  the  root-stock,  and  undoubtedly  may  grow  into  a 
full-sized  rhizoma.  The  section  of  the  stalk  shows  a  thin 
outer  sclerenchymatous  sheath,  and,  within  the  colored  paren- 
chyma, a  broad  and  thin  vascular  band,  its  edges  turned  up 
almost  at  right  angles  with  the  middle  part.  This  structure 
may  be  seen,  though  somewhat  modified,  even  below  the  little 
branch  just  described,  proving,  what  is  perhaps  hitherto  un- 
known in  ferns,  that  a  stalk  may  branch  out  into  a  root-stock. 


34a 


FERNS  OF   NORTH   AMERICA, 


The  fronds  are  singularly  feathery  and  graceful  in  their 
appearance.  They  are  rarely  less  than  a  foot  long,  and  may 
attain  a  length  of  over  three  feet.  They  are  green,  delicately 
herbaceous,  withering  very  quickly  when  plucked,  but  often 
bleaching  very  prettily  in  the  autumn.  The  upper  surface  is 
nearly  smooth,  but  the  under-surface  is  minutely  glandular- 
puberulent,  and  sometimes  finely  hairy.  In  drying  they  give 
out  a  rather  pleasant  hay-like  odor,  though  by  no  means  so 
fragrant  as  two  or  three  of  the  wood-ferns.  They  are  ovate- 
lanceolate  in  outline,  tapering  very  gradually  from  just  above 
the   rather  broad  base  to  a  long  and  slender  apex. 

The  pinnae  repeat  in  miniature  the  outline  of  the  frond. 
In  all  but  the  lower  pinnae  of  the  very  largest  fronds  the 
secondary  rachises  are  narrowly  wing-margined  by  the  decur- 
rent  bases  of  the  adnate  segments  or  pinnules.  These  seg- 
ments are  oblong-ovate,  mostly  obtuse,  pinnatifid  often  rather 
more  than  half  way  to  the  midvein  into  oblong  toothed  lobes. 
The  largest  pinnae  are  from  three  to  six  inches  long;  the 
pinnules  from  half  an  inch  to  an  inch  long;  the  lobes 
from  one  to  three  lines  long,  and  the  teeth  about  the  fourth 
part  of  a  line.  The  veins  and  veinlets  are  all  free;  the  latter 
so  branched  that  a  veinlet  runs  to  every  one  of  the  minute 
lobules  or  teeth. 

A  fertile  frond,  as  is  very  common  in  ferns,  is  fertile 
only  in  its  upper  half,  the  lower  pinnae  being  usually  sterile. 
The  fruit-dots  are  very  minute,  and  arc  placed  on  the  lowest 
tooth  on  the  upper  side  of  the  lobes  of  the  segments.    Com- 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


343 


monly  there  is  but  one  fruit-dot  to  a  lobe,  but  sometimes 
there  are  two  on  the  upper  side,  and  rarely  a  third  on  the 
lower.  The  involucre  is  like  a  little  cup,  and  is  formed  partly 
from  the  reflexed  tip  of  the  fertile  tooth  or  lobule,  and  partly 
of  a  special  true  involucre,  which  meets  the  other  part  and  is 
united  with  it.  Inside  the  cup  are  found  about  a  dozen  spo- 
rangia, which  have  from  twenty  to  twenty-four  articulations 
in  the  ring.  The  spores  are  trigonous  with  somewhat  im- 
pressed sides,  and  three  faint  vittae  along  the  angles. 

There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  confusion  respecting  the 
names  of  this  fern,  both  generic  and  specific.  The  genus 
DicA'souia  was  proposed  by  L'Heritier  in  1788  for  two  species, 
/?.  Culcita  of  the  Azores  and  Madeira,  and  D.  arborcsceus  of 
St.  Helena.  In  these  the  involucre  is  very  distinctly  two- 
valved,  the  outer  valve  formed  from  the  apex  of  a  lobe.  About 
a  dozen  other  species  are  now  known,  which  are  plainly  con- 
geners of  these  two.  In  1801,  Bernhardi  proposed  a  genus 
Dennstadtia  for  the  Trichomanes  floccidimi  of  Forster,  a  fern 
much  more  like  our  own,  and,  like  it,  having  a  cup-like,  and 
hot  two-valved,  involucre.  But  the  proposed  genus  was 
promptly  rejected  by  Swartz,  Schkuhr  and  Willdenow,  and 
the  plant  referred  to  Dicksonia,  which  by  18 10  was  made 
the  recipient  of  as  many  as  twenty  species.  Since  then  5//- 
obolium  (or  Sitolobiwn),  Patania  and  Adectum  have  been 
proposed  for  some  of  these  species  with  cup-like  involucres. 
Some  of  these  names  have  met  with  a  limited  acceptance, 
but  all   were   rejected   by    Hooker.     The  authors   of   Species 


344 


FERNS  OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 


Filicum  have  also  added  the  species  of  Cibotium  to  Dicksonia, 
but  these  have  the  outer  half  of  the  involucre  separate  from 
the  lobule;  and  this  character,  with  their  peculiar  habit,  is, 
perhaps,  enough  to  justify  their  being  kept  distinct.  The 
oldest  name  for  our  plant  is  Ncphrodium  punctilobulum,  of 
Michaux,  published  in  1803.  In  1806,  Swartz  called  it  Aspid- 
ium  punctilobulum.  In  1809,  Willdenow  named  it  Dicksonia 
pilosiuscula,  and  in  the  same  year,  as  nearly  as  I  can  discover, 
Schkuhr  figured  and  described  it  as  D.  pubescens,  although 
attributing  the  name  to  Swartz.  It  was  not  till  about  1843 
that  Hooker  published  the  name  of  D.  punctiloba,  taking  the 
orthography  from  Willdenow's  Aspidium  ptinctilobum.  In  the 
Spring  of  1848,  Gray's  Manual  first  gave  the  name  D.  pmtc- 
tilobula,  and  Kunze  followed  in  July  of  the  same  year  with 
the  same  name.  But  if  a  species  is  to  have  the  name  under 
which  it  was  first  referred  to  its  proper  genus,  then  cither 
Willdenow's  or  Swartz's  name  is  to  be  chosen. 


The  specimen  figured  was  collected  on  the  Peaks  of  Otter,  in 
Virginia,  by  Mr.  A.  H.  Curtiss.  The  cup-like  involucre  and  the  other 
magnified  details  are  well  represented  by  Mr.  Faxon. 


_a|j.- 


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FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


345 


Plate  XLV.  — Fig.  1-5. 

CHEILANTHES  TOMENTOSA,  Link. 

Webby  Lip-Fern. 

CHEILANTHES  TOMENTOSA :  — Root-stoclc  short,  chaffy  with 
glossy  subulate  scales;  stalks  tufted,  four  to  eight  inches  long, 
erect,  rather  stout,  clothed  with  soft  woolly  pale-ferruginous 
hairs,  intermixed  with  others  which  are  flattened  and  decidedly 
paleaceous;  fronds  eight  to  fifteen  inches  long,  oblong-lanceo- 
late, webby-tomentose  with  slender  brownish-white  obscurely 
articulated  hairs,  especially  beneath,  tripinnate;  primary  and 
secondary  pinnae  oblong  or  ovate-oblong;  ultimate  pinnules 
closely  placed,  but  distinct,  roundish-obovate,  sessile,  or  ad- 
nate  to  the  tertiary  rachis,  one-half  to  three-fourths  of  a  line 
long,  the  terminal  ones  twice  longer;  involucres  whitish,  con- 
tinuous round  the  pinnule  and  very  narrow. 

CheilantJus  hmcniosa.  Link,  "  Hort.  Berol.,  ii.,  p.  42." — Fil.  Hort.  Berol., 
p.  65.  — KuNZE,  in  Sill.  Journ.,  July,  1848,  p.  87;  in  Linna;a, 
xxili.,  p.  245.  —  Gk.\v,  Manual,  ed.  ii.,  p.  592.— Mettexius,  Fil. 
Hort.  Lips.,  p.  50;  Cheilanthes,  p.  37.  — E.\ton,  in  Chapman's 
Flora,  p.  590;  Ferns  of  the  South-West,  p.  314.  —  Baker, 
Syn.  Fil.,  p.  140.— Williamson,  Ferns  of  Kentucky,  p.  49, 
t.  xi. 


1 


.34'' 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


Myriopteris  tomentosa.  Fee,  Gen.  Fil.,  p.  149,  t.  xii.,  A.,  f.  2  (a  pin- 
nule).— FouRNiER,  PI.    Mex.,   Crj'pt.,  p.  125   (species  exclusa). 

Notholana  tomentosa,  J.  Smith. 

Cheilanthes  Bradburii,  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  ii.,  p.  97,  t.  cix.,  B.  —  Metten- 
lus,  Cheilanthes,  p.  37. 

Hab. —  Sandstone  rocks  along  the  French  Broad  River,  in  North 
Carolina  and  Eastern  Tennessee,  Professor  Gray,  Mr.  Canby,  Rev.  D. 
R.  Shoop,  Professor  Br^vdley,  etc.  Texas,  Lindheimer,  No.  743.  Moun- 
tains of  Virginia  (?)  and  Kentucky,  according  to  Gray's  Manual,  but 
Mr.  Williamson  has  hitherto  failed  to  find  it  in  the  last  named  State. 
The  Kew  herbarium  contains,  besides  Lindheimer's  plant,  a  very  imper- 
fect specimen  marked  "  Manitou  Rocks,  250  miles  up  the  Missouri, 
Bradbury,"  and  good  specimens  from  Texas  collected  by  Drummond. 
Kunze  states  that  it  was  raised  [at  the  Leipzig  garden  ?]  from  Mexican 
spores,  and  that  Rugel  collected  a  few  specimens  in  North  Carolina ; 
but  Fournier  rejects  it  as  a  Mexican  species. 

Description: — This  is  decidedly  the  largest  plant  among 
all  our  North  American  species  of  Cheilanthes,  some  of  the 
tallest  specimens  measuring  nearly  two  feet  in  total  length. 
The  root-stock  is  short,  and  disposed  to  branch.  It  is  thickly 
clad  with  fine  subulate  chaff,  many  of  the  scales  with  a  dark 
and  rigid  midnerve,  and  others  lighter-colored  and  without 
midnerve.  The  plant  evidently  grows  in  dense  masses.  The 
stalks  are  clustered,  each  root-stock  sending  up  a  large  num- 
ber of  them.  They  are  rigid,  wiry,  terete  and  covered  with 
grayish-tawny  spreading  soft  woolly  hairs,  intermixed  with 
a  few  which  are  broader  and   decidedly  paleaceous,  especially 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


347 


towards  the  base.  The  section  is  round,  and  shows  a  firm 
exterior  sclerenchymatous  sheath,  within  which  is  a  broad 
circle  of  brownish  parenchyma,  and  in  the  middle  a  single 
fibro-vascular  bundle  obtusely  triangular  in  shape,  but  with 
the  sides  slightly  hollowed  in. 

The  fronds  vary  from  a  few  inches  to  over  a  foot  in 
length;  their  general  shape  is  ovate-lanceolate,  or  oblong-lan- 
ceolate; they  are  in  general  of  a  grayish  color  from  the 
abundance  of  a  fine  entangled  tomentum,  which  covers  both 
surfaces,  though  it  is  a  little  thinner  and  whiter  on  the  upper 
surface.  The  large  fronds  are  fully  tripinnate.  The  primary 
pinnae  are  oblong-ovate,  short-stalked,  one  to  nearly  two 
inches  long,  and  a  half  to  three-fourths  of  an  inch  broad  at 
the  base.  They  are  either  opposite  or  alternate,  the  lower 
ones,  as  usual,  more  separated  than  those  that  are  higher  up 
on  the  frond.  The  secondary  pinnae  are  close-placed,  oblong, 
obtuse,  and  again  pinnated  into  from  two  to  five  minute 
rounded  or  rounded-obovate  sessile  or  adnate-decurrent  pin- 
nules on  each  side,  besides  a  terminal  oval  pinnule  which 
is  twice  as  large  as  the  lateral  ones.  These  ultimate  pin- 
nules are  innumerable,  and  it  is  in  allusion  to  their  very 
great  number  in  this  and  the  allied  species  that  the  generic 
name  Myriopteris  was  proposed  by  Fde  for  the  group. 

The  whole  margin  of  the  pinnule  is  recurved,  and  from 
the  edge  of  it  is  produced  a  very  delicate  whitish  involucre, 
the  whole  forming  a  sort  of  pouch,  as  is  admirably  repre- 
sented in  the  figure  given  by  Fee.    The  sporangia  have  a  ring 


348 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


of  about  twenty  articulations:  F6c  says  there  are  vittate  or 
knotted  hairs  growing  among  them.  The  spores  are  rather 
large,  amber-colored,  globose,  and  delicately  trivittate.  Accord- 
ing to  Fee,  when  placed  in  water  they  burst  and  dissolve  into 
excessively  minute  sporules. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  our  plant  is  the  Clieilanthes 
tomentosa  of  Link.  Kunze,  who  knew  Link's  plant  perfectly 
well,  referred  the  North  Carolina  specimens  to  it;  and  Dr. 
Mettenius,  who  succeeded  to  the  care  of  the  Leipzig  garden, 
favored  me  with  specimens  which  are  precisely  the  same 
thing  as  the  plant  here  described.  But  none  of  the  Mexican 
collectors  seem  to  have  found  the  species,  and  it  may  be 
legitimately  queried  whether  the  commonly  reported  origin  of 
Link's  specimens  is  the  true  one.  The  Clieilanthes  tomentosa 
of  the  Species  Filicum  is  partly  this  plant,  but  mainly  the 
species  next  to  be  described. 

Plate  XLV. —  Fig.  1-5.  Clieilanthes  tomentosa.  Fig.  i  represents 
one  of  Professor  Bradley's  specimens.  Fig.  2  is  an  enlarged  pinnule. 
Fig.  3,  an  enlarged  portion  of  a  pinnule.  Fig.  4,  some  of  the  woolly 
hairs  magnified,  and  Fig.  5,  a  spore. 


FERNS   OF    NORTH   AMERICA. 


34$ 


PijvTE  XLV.— Fig.  6-12. 

CHEILANTHES  EATONI,  Baker. 

Eaton's  Lip-Fern. 

Cheilanthes  Eatoni:  Root -stock  short,  chaffy  with 
rather  long  slenderly  acuminate  glossy  scales;  stalks  clus- 
tered, four  to  eight  inches  long,  erect,  wiry,  covered,  as  are  the 
rachis  and  its  divisions,  with  narrow  shining  pale-ferruginous 
scales  and  paleaceous  hairs  intermixed;  fronds  four  to  nine 
inches  long,  oblong-lanceolate,  pubescent  above  with  whitish 
entangled  woolly  hairs,  beneath  covered  with  a  heavy  matted 
ferruginous  tomentum,  and  more  or  less  scaly,  especially  when 
young,  tripinnate;  pinnae  ovate-oblong,  lower  ones  rather  dis- 
tant, upper  ones  crowded;  ultimate  pinnules  contiguous,  half 
a  line  long,  rounded,  but  narrowed  at  the  base,  the  terminal 
ones  often  twice  larger  and  more  decidedly  obovate;  margin 
of  the  pinnules  continuously  recurved,  the  edge  slightly  mem- 
branaceous. 


Cheilanthes  Eatoni,  Baker,  Syn.  Fil.,  p.  140.— Poktek  &  Coulter, 
Synopsis  of  the  Flora  of  Colorado,  p.  153.— -Eatox,  Ferns  of 
the  South-West,  p.  315. 


35° 


FERNS   OF    NORTH   AMERICA. 


Cluilantlus  tonuntosa.  Hooker,  Sp.  Fil.,  ii.,  p.  96  (description  and 
Texas  plant),  t.  cix.,  A. — Eaton,  in  Botany  of  the  U.  S.  and 
Mexican  Boundary  Survey,  p.  234. 

Had. — Texas  and  New  Mexico,  Wright,  No.  816;  Fendler,  No. 
1016;  Indian  Territory,  between  Fort  Cobb  and  Fort  Arbuckle,  Palmer; 
near  Canon  City,  Colorado,  Brandegee;  from  the  Rio  Grande  west- 
ward along  the  Gila  to  the  Colorado  River,  Collectors  of  Mexican  Boun- 
dary Survey.  The  kind  of  place  where  this  fern  has  been  collected  is 
not  recorded,  but  it  probably  grows  in  the  clefts  of  rocks  along  the 
sides  and  edges  of  canons. 

Description: — This  fern  bears  so  close  a  resemblance 
to  Cheilanthes  tomentosa,  that  it  is  not  at  all  surprising  that 
there  has  been  more  or  less  of  confusion  between  the  two. 
It  would  seem  that  wheh  writing  his  account  of  the  genus 
Cheilanthes  for  the  Species  Filicum,  Sir  W.  J.  Hooker  had, 
in  his  collection,  no  examples  of  the  North  Carolina  C.  tomen- 
tosa, and  could  identify  it  only  by  Link's  rather  imperfect 
description  and  Kunze's  remarks  in  Silliman's  Journal.  Hav- 
ing Wright's  specimens  of  the  plant  here  described,  and  Gor- 
don's fern  from  the  Rattene  Mountains  —  a  plant  not  yet 
satisfactorily  identified — he  referred  them  to  the  species  named 
by  Link;  and  then  perceiving  with  his  accustomed  delicate 
discrimination  that  Lindheimer's  and  Bradbury's  plant  was 
distinct  from  Wright's,  he  gave  the  former  the  name  of  C. 
Bradburii.  It  was  not  until  i860,  when  the  Ferns  for  Chap- 
man's Flora  were  being  prepared,  that  any  one  suspected  that 
the  C.  Bradburii  was  the  true  C.  tomentosa.     In  1866,  I  had 


FERNS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


35  « 


an  opportunity  of  explaining  the  matter  to  Mr.  Baker,  then 
at  work  on  the  Synopsis  Filicum,  and  not  long  after,  I  was 
surprised,  and  I  need  not  say  pleased,  by  finding  that  he 
had  given    to  Hooker's  C.  tomentosa   the  name  it  now  bears. 

The  root-stock  is  short,  assurgent,  and  chaffy  with  rather 
rigid  slender-pointed  scales,  most  of  them  furnished  with  a 
dark  midnerve.  The  stalks  are  tufted,  and  are  perhaps  a 
little  slenderer  than  those  of  C.  tomentosa.  They  are  chaffy 
throughout,  but  more  especially  at  the  base,  with  narrow  pale- 
ferruginous  scales,  intermixed  with  still  slenderer  paleaceous 
hairs.  The  section  is  slightly  flattened  on  the  anterior  side. 
The  exterior  sheath  is  firm;  inside  of  it  is  brownish  paren- 
chyma, and  in  the  middle  a  semicircular  fibro-vascular  bundle, 
the  ducts  in  the  centre  of  it  arranged  in  a  figure  much  like 
a  letter  X. 

The  fronds  are  considerably  smaller  than  in  C.  tomentosa. 
They  are  similarly  oblong-lanceolate  and  tripinnate,  the  ulti- 
mate pinnules  being  very  numerous  and  rather  more  closely 
crowded  than  in  the  other  species  just  referred  to.  The 
pubescence  is  harsher  and  not  so  webby  on  the  upper  side, 
and  is  decidedly  heavier  and  more  matted  on  the  under  sur- 
face. The  scales  of  the  branches,  or  secondary  rachises,  are 
broader  and  shorter  than  those  of  the  stalk  and  are  very 
conspicuous  in  young  fronds.  In  older  fronds  they  fall  away, 
to  some  extent,  and  are  then  less  abundant. 

The  pinnules  are  rather  rounder  and  less  oval  than  in 
C   tomentosa,   and   though   they   are    somewhat    purse-shaped. 


352 


FERNS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


the  involucre  consists  almost  entirely  of  the  recurved  herba- 
ceous margin,  the  proper  whitish  and  delicately  membranous 
involucre  being  nearly  suppressed. 

The  spores  are  sub-globose,  amber-colored,  faintly  trivit- 
tate,  and  have  a  finely  pustulated  or  granular  surface. 

In  respect  to  the  narrow  herbaceous  involucre  this  fern 
comes  nearest  to  Chcilanthcs  lanuginosa,  of  Nuttall,  figured 
at  Plate  VI  of  this  work.  It  has,  however,  much  larger 
fronds;  and  the  copious,  though  narrow  scales  of  the  stalk, 
as  well  as  the  scales  of  the  rachises,  will  readily  distinguish  it. 

It  is  among  the  Ferns  which  have  been  cultivated  by 
Hon.  J.  Warren  Merrill,  though  I  am  not  informed  what  are 
its  special   needs  in  the  way  of   soil,  moisture,  etc. 

Plate  XLV.  —  Fig.  6-12.  CJuilanthcs  Eatoni  from  one  of  Mr. 
Brandegcc's  Colorado  specimens.  Fig.  7  is  an  enlarged  secondary 
pinna.  Fig.  8,  a  segment  still  more  enlarged.  Fig.  9,  a  part  of  the 
rachis,  enlarged,  and  showing  the  scales.  Fig.  10,  a  scale  from  the 
rachis,  magnified.  Fig.  11,  some  of  the  tomentum  magnified.  Fig.  12, 
a  spore. 


